The Prettiest Star
by Totally Raven
Summary: COMPLETED: It's the 70s and love is brewing in Gryffindor tower. Remus and Sirius can only hide their feelings for so long. A tribute fic to 'Fairy Boys'. AU, slash.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everyone! I am finally back with a new Sirius/ Remus slash fic. This first chapter is rather tame, but future chapters may be more mature. This story is a tribute to the "Fairy Boys" series by Thieving Gypsy (if anyone has access to the 'Best Of:' story, please send me a copy!) and in a way it's a re-write of my old fic 'Looking At Him Was Nice'. So you will see several similarities, such as the Velvet Goldmine crosses and silly narration. But I promise it's original! I'm aiming to make it about five chapters. I hope everyone likes it. :)

Disclaimer: I own the computer I wrote this on, but that's about it.

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><p><span>Chapter 1<span>

"Muggles sure know how to make a mess of the world."

Remus glanced up. Sirius Black was leaning over his shoulder, peering at Remus' newspaper. It was an edition from London, already three days out of date and slightly crumpled. Remus never got the paper until his mother had read it, cover to cover. Sirius was staring at the pages spread across Remus' lap – they were smattered with photographs of the war in Viet Nam.

Sirius had a good point – the pictures and the article were horrendous. Remus dealt with violence of his own; he made efforts to keep people safe from the horror he could wreak as a werewolf – he didn't want to see what other people were doing to each other. He flipped the page over only to find the article continued. He flapped the paper shut and threw it on the floor.

"Finished with that?" Sirius said, leaning over Remus' shoulder and pointing at the discarded paper.

Remus nodded. "For now," he replied in a weary voice.

Sirius leapt over the back rest of the couch Remus was sitting on, flopping in a soft heap beside Remus. He leant forward and retrieved the paper, flipping open to the culture pages.

"Such a shame muggles don't have proper photos," Sirius murmured as he stretched himself out, propping his feet on Remus' knees.

It was a Friday night and the Marauders were settling in for the evening. Remus had finished his homework, Sirius had also. James was procrastinating; currently he was sprawled on the hearth rug inspecting his broom, his cleaning kit scattered around him. Peter was sitting in the armchair closest to the fire, biting his finger nails as he joined James in homework putting-off. Peter's girlfriend Claudia was leaning against the brickwork side of the fireplace. She was painting her toenails bright pink and dotting sparkly purple polish over the top.

"Nice toes, Claud," Sirius said, not looking up from the paper.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at her feet. Sirius and Claudia were both big fans of Glam rock, which included lots of bright colours, eye makeup and glitter. Sirius himself always had silvery blue glitter striped along his cheekbones and his finger nails painted, a smudge of kohl framing the corners of his eyes. The pair of them were slowly converting the rest of the group to the trend and they were helped along by the newspapers Remus' mother kept sending them.

There was something rather depressing about the evening, Remus thought, looking about the room. It was almost wintertime and the night was cold, many Gryffindors had already tottered off to bed. There was a group of girls in the corner and a gaggle of third years playing Exploding Snap. Otherwise, the common room was deserted.

"How about some Firewhisky?" Peter asked around a mouthful of finger.

Sirius threw Remus' paper aside with a flamboyant flourish. "Absolutely! Sounds fantastic Petie-Pete! Off you go."

Peter rolled his eyes, but got up from his chair and went up to the dorm room, returning shortly with a box full of rattling bottles. There was a stack of chocolate tucked in the side and Peter passed both around.

The group cracked open their bottles and then settled back into the same tedium as before. Eventually, James put his broomstick aside and declared, "Well, this is mundane."

It was a mistake, at least in Remus' opinion. Remus enjoyed a bit of peace every now and then, but James had thrown open a door now and the steroid-charged bull that was Sirius thundered his way through.

"I know!" he cried. "I'll sing us a song!"

It wasn't just their own group that groaned – the girls in the corner did also, and the third years looked over, disgust painted on their faces, then collected their cards and all but ran up the stairs to their dormitories.

It wasn't that Claudia and Sirius' music wasn't enjoyable. It was just that Sirius couldn't sing.

Remus didn't really mind. When it came to Sirius, there wasn't much that Remus really minded. He settled back into the couch, smiling only in his mind, getting ready to watch Sirius make a fool of himself.

Sirius waved his wand and Remus' record player (another gift from his mother, which now played nothing but Glam and no Mozart whatsoever) began to make the room echo with the unique sounds of a muggle named David Bowie. Sirius began to sing along.

Remus didn't mind, even though James, who had moved off the floor and now sat on the couch beside Remus, began to sing even louder, and Claudia with him, in an effort to drown Sirius out. Remus only had ears for Sirius. Remus only had eyes for Sirius too. It was something of an extreme nuisance, he thought, being attracted to ones best friend, especially when they shared a room. Some nights he dived into bed and drew his canopy hangings before Sirius even made it into the room because he was too worried he'd be tempted to perve on Sirius as he was changing. And it was incredible, Remus thought, just how alone he could feel those same nights when Sirius was just five steps away.

Still, they were friends at least, and close friends at that. The four boys were almost brothers. When Claudia had joined their group it had been strange, like an invasion at first, into their manly world of mischief. However, Claudia fitted right in, with her Glam rock and her cheeky grin and her big heart. She had become one of their brothers.

Remus adored his friends, and despite his attraction to Sirius, a friend was far more important to him than a lover. That was what Remus kept telling himself, anyway. Now, if only he could get his pesky heart to stop wanting to shout that he was _in love_ with Sirius, he'd have no issue.

David Bowie sang on, and Sirius screamed over the top. Claudia was singing still too, lying on her back and wriggling her toes high in the air in an effort to dry the polish. James had stopped singing, and grinning devilishly, was tearing his chocolate wrapper into small strips. As Remus watched, swigging from his Firewhisky, James began to methodically chew one strip of paper. Peter sniggered and began to do the same.

Remus bit his lip so that he wouldn't laugh and watched as James silently held his fingers up, putting one down at a time in a countdown. Once his thumb disappeared two small wads of spittle soaked paper hurtled through the air and made direct contact with Sirius, one spitball landing on his neck and the other on his cheek.

"Hey!" Sirius cried, tossing his hair and flicking wildly at the sloppy twists of paper. "That's gross and disgusting and totally uncalled for!"

"You wanted to sing, Padfoot," James said around a grin, before two more spitballs careered at him.

Sirius ducked and pirouetted across the hearth and Bowie sang carelessly in the corner as Sirius sourced for allies. Claudia was ignoring the boys, waving her feet and singing still, so Sirius looked at Remus.

Remus tried to burrow himself further into the soft cushion of the couch. "Moony, save me!"

Remus tried to repress a smirk and failed as Peter and James spat again. "Nah, I'm good thanks, Sirius."

Sirius tripped over Claudia, grabbed Remus by the hands and pulled him to his feet, holding the astounded boy close against him and sending the bottle of Firewhisky flying. "Protect me Moony!" Sirius yelled in Remus' ear. "Be my human shield! They wouldn't dare soil you with their vile oral venom!"

"Wanna bet?" James grinned more evilly than ever and he and Peter redoubled their efforts. Remus grimaced as he felt the first spitball land in his curly, shoulder length hair. And yet he couldn't help but feel warm and gooey as Sirius held him deliciously close and began to twirl him around the room far more flamboyantly than was necessary seeing as Remus was supposed to be shielding him. It transpired that they both just ended up with little globs of salivary paper glued to various appendages.

Eventually, though, the chocolate wrappers ran out. Sirius pushed Remus back and held him at arm's length, his blue-grey eyes glittering with mirth. "Well done indeed, oh valiant human shield of mine." Remus couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. Sirius really was the most pretentious git in the world.

"Do I win a medal?" he asked, grinning back.

"Alas, no," Sirius shook his head with world-weary grace. Suddenly he sparked up and pulled Remus into a bone shattering hug. "Instead you win a most marvellous prize! A once-in-a-lifetime super prize! A-"

"Just tell him what the prize is and shut up, Pads," Peter said good-naturedly, now sitting on the floor and trying to avoid being kicked as he tickled the waving soles of Claudia's feet.

"I will! But not because you told me to." Sirius stuck his tongue out at Peter before turning back to Remus. "You have won ... a dance with Sirius Black! Please withhold the swooning 'til the end of the dance."

Remus rolled his eyes again, and then nearly fell on his face as Sirius wrenched him off his feet and began to twirl him around the room. Remus found his feet again and joined in, laughing as the pair proceeded to tango all about the common room. His heart fluttered marvellously at the light touch of Sirius' hand in the small of his back. Ohh... Their hands were clasped together, and Sirius was shooting him very strange looks indeed – half ridiculously coy, half intense, serious, desperate, wanting... Sirius fingers slid in a gentle stroke against Remus' back and Remus found himself having a hard time not sinking his nails into Sirius' bicep.

They twirled around the room, spitball-clad, and Remus felt his smile growing bigger with every second.

When the song was over, Sirius waltzed Remus back over to the couch and deposited him in his original seat, before flopping to the ground at his feet, panting slightly.

"Here y'are," James said, passing the two of them bottles of Butterbeer. "Don't worry, I cleaned up the other bottle."

"So," Sirius said, gulping his Butterbeer and interrupting Remus' thanks to James. "School holidays are just around the corner. Are we all still on for the concert?"

James and Remus pretended to groan and roll their eyes. Sirius hit them in the legs each in turn. Claudia finally turned herself right-side up, her face flushed, though it was hard to tell if that was because of the promise of the concert or her sudden position change. "Hell yes!" she cried. "Which reminds me, I wrote to my parents to find out more about the opening act, remember, the one we haven't heard of?"

This was a bit of an exaggeration. The opening act Claudia was referring to was one Brian Slade, an up and comer Remus had seen a lot of in his papers. Sirius, who had also read these papers however, was nodding.

"Well, in the evening owl today she sent me a parcel. _Accio_." They all waited and shortly a brown packet came wafting down the stairs from the girls' dormitories. "It's Brian Slade's latest record, so we can hear his music and we'll know what to expect!" Claudia said excitedly once the packet was in her hands. "She also sent me some publicity photos and a couple of magazine articles."

Claudia got up, keeping her toes bent upwards, away from the fur of the thick hearth rug, and passed the articles to Sirius. Peter shuffled closer and Remus and James leaned over Sirius' shoulders to see the articles as Claudia swapped the records over.

Sirius was just blinking at the top picture. Remus felt an uncomfortable and rather pleasant whir in his loins. James' coughed and pushed his glasses up his nose a little. Peter tipped his head from side to side and raised an eyebrow. "That's a man?" he queried.

"That's a man," Sirius said a little breathlessly. "And what a man. What a beautiful man."

Remus had to agree. Silently. Sirius was outspoken and shameless, living life and enjoying the thrill of shocking others. His sexuality was no secret among the students of Gryffindor tower (or the rest of the school for that matter), and it was plainly clear that he preferred boys to girls. It was a very popular sexuality to have right now, something Remus had read in a paper as a quote, in fact, from the very man they were all gazing at in that moment.

James coughed again. James' sexuality was anyone guess, but it really wouldn't have mattered if he batted for both teams, because as open as Sirius was it was equally apparent that James only had eyes for one person, and it was a girl.

Remus was more reserved, secretive out of necessity. Homosexuality wasn't frowned upon in the wizarding world in the same way as in the muggle world, so it wasn't fear that kept his mouth shut. He just didn't think it was necessary to shout it from rooftops. Not that Remus had really stopped to consider his sexuality either, because he was in the same boat as James. He was in love with one person, and the fact that that person was a man was neither here nor there. Love was love, it didn't matter where it came from as long as nobody got hurt. That was Remus' (admittedly very Glam rock) take on the matter.

And because he wasn't deliberately keeping it a secret it didn't occur to him to try and make it look like he wasn't drooling over the picture Sirius' was holding. Besides, he suspected his friends had already figured him out anyway.

Sirius flipped to the next photo, muttering again about the calamity of muggle pictures. The next photo wasn't as nice as the first, and without consciously being aware of it, Remus had reached down and taken the first picture out of Sirius' hand.

It showed Brian Slade, a man Remus had seen in photos before, sitting in a garden in a white three-piece suit, minus the jacket and shirt. His face was speckled with red as if he'd been making sauce and leaned over the pot as it boiled and spat. His pose was relaxed, showing off sexy, tanned muscles and a lean, long body. But it was his face that caught Remus' attention. That befuddled, wide-eyed, parted-lips looking of utter confusion had Remus captivated. Those lips... oh, how he wanted to kiss those full, parted lips...

"Hey, Remus, give us that one back!" Sirius snapped, not unkindly, reaching up for the first photo again. "It's the best one of the lot. Mm," Sirius murmured as he looked at the image again. "Couldn't you just eat him all up?"

"Absolutely," Claudia said, coming back to the group and sitting down in Peter's vacated armchair. She was a short girl and her feet didn't reach the floor. Her spotty, sparkly toenails glimmered in the firelight. She flicked her wand and the Brian Slade album started on the record player. Sirius passed the rest of the photos around.

Remus flipped through the rest, though he agreed with Sirius that the first was the best. Still, no dressed up fairy-man rock star was as good as the _real_ star sitting near his feet. Brian Slade may have a pretty mouth (all the better to sing with, my dear, Remus couldn't help but think, but then laughed aloud (gaining himself a bemused glance or two) as he remembered that it was he, _himself_ who was the wolf), but Sirius had a _sexy_ mouth. And sexy hair and sexy shoulders, and legs and super-sexy smouldering eyes. Sirius was the brightest star there was. Who could beat that?

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><p>The next night the group of five were sprawled out in a similar fashion. Tonight however Sirius was sitting on the floor, painting his finger nails with silver polish which was dotted with shiny black glitter specks. He was browsing through today's three-day old paper, turning the pages with his toes.<p>

Peter sat on the couch, Claudia lying next to him with her head in his lap. He was stroking his hand gently through her wavy curls, which were a colour somewhere between light brown and red.

Remus sat in the chair closest the fire, and James was in one across from him. James was finishing off his homework essay, deciding not to procrastinate any longer. There were a couple of Quidditch magazines on the arm rest; the Holy Head Harpies were flying around haphazardly on the cover as they waved to the unseen photographer.

Remus himself was just dozing. He had his legs slung over one arm rest, head nursed on the other. He lay quietly humming to himself, occasionally peering around at his friends. Whenever he thought they weren't looking he would take a small bite from the chocolate bar in his hand and let it melt on his tongue. Tonight they were alone in the common room. There were various activities going on around the castle on Saturday nights – the regular Ravenclaw Quidditch practice (apparently their Keeper was incredibly attractive), game clubs and study groups and a Duelling club and, so Remus had heard, a secretive Potions group where they brewed silly illicit things like Love potions or attempted to recreate Professor Slughorn's famed Felix Felicis potion. It didn't sound like much to entice Remus and he wasn't any good at potion brewing anyway.

Instead the boys and Claudia were re-listening to _The Ballad of Maxwell Demon_, the Brian Slade album Claudia's mother had sent. Sirius had fallen in love with it already, and now wanted to listen to the whole album over and over until he knew every word by heart. Luckily for him, the others liked the music just as much and were also not adverse to the repeated listenings.

Brian Slade had just sung something about being six feet down at age twenty-five, and Remus wondered in his half-awake brain why so many of these Glam rock singers wanted to die in their mid-twenties. He sneaked another bite of chocolate. He was a werewolf and he didn't want to die. Yet, twenty-five seemed an age away to the seventeen year old. Perhaps he would wish for death by then.

"Remus!" Sirius suddenly cried out. "Are you scoffing chocolate over there and not offering any about?"

_Damn_. He'd been spotted. Cheekily, Remus grinned and stuffed the last few bites openly into his mouth. "No," he choked out with difficulty. Mm, the chocolate was soft and gooey and caramel and melty. Mhm. Yummy.

Sirius seemed unhappy and Remus watched in mild alarm as he flew (not literally) out of his seat and crossed angrily towards him. Uh oh. Speaking of death, Remus thought, he was about to be throttled to death with a mouthful of chocolate. Oh well, he supposed, there _were_ worse ways to go.

Then Sirius was looming over the top of him, glaring down at Remus where he lay languidly. "Right," the dark-haired boy snapped. "If you're not gonna share then there must be consequences."

Remus quirked an eyebrow slightly, but didn't move. And the next thing he knew, Sirius had dragged his legs around so Remus ended up half in and out of his chair, slumped like a rag doll and Sirius had jumped on top of him, straddling his lap and suddenly Remus squealed like a Bowie fan-girl because Sirius was tickling him under the arms and the satin Glam-esque shirt Remus was wearing made it so much worse.

Remus' sleepy mind snapped instantly awake. His brain was occupied by only two thoughts – the first, and most consuming, was the fact that he was being tortured to death through tickling, laughing and choking on the chocolate he hadn't been given a chance to swallow.

The second thought, which was far more important and yet was not occupying the front of his mind, was that _Sirius was sitting on him_. That was a torture of another kind.

Sirius continued to tickle, and Remus desperately tried to swallow the chocolate goo in his mouth before he laughed too much and spat it all over Sirius' pretty face (though the bugger would have _totally _deserved it). Remus pushed at his attacker and Sirius shifted his weight back a little. Suddenly Remus could feel the firm warmth of Sirius' arse pressing through two pairs of flare jeans and settling on his thighs. In the next few moments, all Remus was aware of was the way Sirius' weight was swaying on his lap, the subtle press of his arse, the simultaneously delightful and horrific brush of his tickling fingers...

_AAAAAARRRGGHHHHHHHH!_

With a sudden surge of strength that slightly surprised himself, Remus shoved Sirius hard in the torso. The older boy slid off Remus' lap and landed in an unceremonious heap at his feet. Sirius mock-scowled at him and began poking him repeatedly in the leg.

Remus peeked at the others in a manner that he hoped looked like he wasn't peeking. Their expressions were all amused, slightly bewildered, and maybe ... maybe just a _little _knowing. Remus looked down again, hoping the group were reading his flushed cheeks as being a result from the tickling torment and not from ... anything else. He ran his tongue across his teeth to try and rid them of the sticky chocolate residue.

Sirius was still poking him in the leg and it was starting to hurt. Partly to stop Sirius but mostly to distract the others, Remus sighed. "There's some chocolate under my bed, Padfoot. Go and get it."

Sirius grinned and leapt up. Before he walked away, he caught Remus' eye. The look that passed between them was charged and confusing. Remus couldn't read those smoky eyes but something in that look made him wish his flares weren't so tight. He was the first one to look away and then Sirius ran off, thundering up the stairs to find Remus' precious chocolate stash.

Remus tried avoiding everyone's gaze until Sirius returned, listening vaguely to Brian Slade's voice echoing around the empty room. Remus ignored James as the bespectacled boy cast a drying charm on his homework, rolled the parchment up and popped his chin in one hand, studying Remus with eyes narrowed.

James didn't look away until Remus met his eye. Remus squinted back at James in a manner as if to say, '_What?'_ James appeared to be trying to tell Remus something in the same manner, and Remus had a sneaking suspicion that it would be along the lines of he, Remus, telling Sirius just how much he liked him sitting on his lap. Remus quirked his expression hoping James would get the message of _practice what you preach_. He thought it got through – James shrugged a little and relaxed, pulling a deck of cards out of the side of his seat cushion. "Who's up for Old Troll?"

Sirius came back into the room just as James was dealing the cards out. He flopped onto the hearth rug in between James and Remus, with his back to the fire. Peter and Claudia filled the other space between Remus and James. They were still sitting close, Claudia curled into Peter's side, his arm wrapped tight around her. Remus felt a sudden pang, but it passed quickly. The memory of Sirius' warm buttocks pressing into him was still keeping heat in his face.

Sirius tossed chocolate bars around to each person, Remus included. "Thank you," Remus said, slightly surprised. Excluding him would have been a classic Sirius petty prank. Still, they were all growing up. Maybe Sirius was getting tired of petty pranks. That was a slightly sad thought.

Sirius had also brought down a carry case with six bottles of Butterbeer in. He distributed them to the group, who all settled down to the card game. After three games of Old Troll (all won by Peter) James started dealing out for Mermaid Catch. Peter always seemed to win at card games. Remus suspected he cheated, though how he couldn't say.

The pictures on the cards had changed from trolls with cracked faces and blonde hair to mermaids. Some were green with seaweed hair and ugly teeth, others were beautiful, pale skinned figures with hair like gemstones. Remus looked down at his hand – two seals swam laps around each other on one card, four shining mermaids were synchronised swimming on another, while his other cards contained various numbers of common crack-toothed mermaids. No pairs.

The night wore on, more hands were played and more alcohol consumed. They kept changing games, as Peter kept winning most every round, and eventually came back to Mermaid Catch. Remus noted with vague amusement that he was holding the same two cards as the first game. As the game wore on he found they were the only two he couldn't pair or pass off. Finally, Sirius got a run of good guesses and took them both off his hands, finished the game and won.

It was the only game all night that Sirius had won and it sent him into raptures. He leapt up from the floor (and nearly fell over as by this point they were all rather mellow) and began to spin deliriously around the room, chanting loudly, "I won, I won, I won!"

"And on that note," James said on a huge yawn, "it's bed time."

Peter and Claudia got up to follow James. Remus was about to join them when Sirius stopped twirling and landed beside him, flinging one leg painfully into Remus' lap. "Don't leave me on my own, Remus!" Sirius cried.

Remus settled back down. He couldn't really be bothered moving anyway. Sirius and Remus were both night owls. They liked to stay up late (usually plotting terrible mischief to indulge in) and sleep in late, though this rarely happened (stupid teachers expecting them to be on time to classes). Still, Remus hoped Sirius wasn't going to pin him down for too long. He could feel the alcohol in his blood making him deliciously sleepy.

Then again, the feel of Sirius' leg draped over him was also _quite_ delicious...

"I'm sorry for making you lose, Moony," Sirius said, pulling Remus away from a thought pattern that could have quite quickly become uncomfortable given current company. Remus followed Sirius' gaze. He was looking at Remus' dismally small pile of paired cards from the game.

Remus smiled. "That's okay. It was worth it to see you happy." He tried not to blush, his mind still distracted by the leg slung over him.

"Do you know what else will make the Padfoot happy?" Sirius leaned in close, grinning roguishly in Remus' face. Even though naughty thoughts were still in his brain, Remus was used to Sirius and so this action didn't unnerve him. Sirius snaked his hand around in front of Remus and smirked wider. "Chocolate!" he exclaimed, bringing his hand up and waving Remus' second, half-eaten chocolate bar in his face – it had been sitting on the floor next to him.

Remus was a huge fan of chocolate – he was completely addicted to it and ate it almost daily. It was one of the only things Healers had been able to recommend to him when he was bitten. It didn't help with the transformations, but it made the recovery and moodiness far better. Unfortunately for Remus, Sirius had taken a liking to his chocolate as well.

"That's mine, Sirius!" Remus said, pretending to be angry, but he was grinning widely. "I already gave you some."

"Yes, but you had a whole bar before that, remember? So you should share with me."

"I think that should be for me to decide," Remus replied, still smiling impishly as he wrapped a hand around the chocolate bar and tugged. Sirius tugged back. So began a childish tug of war, each refusing to give way on the chocolate. Remus could feel the bar starting to soften as the warmth from their hands began to make the sweet melt. Well, Remus thought, the chocolate wouldn't be any good melted. He rammed one hand up and into Sirius' hair, messing the long sleek locks into a bird's nest.

"Arghgh!" Sirius yelled, and wrenched his hands away from Remus and ran them repeatedly through his hair, trying to smooth the tangles out again.

Remus giggled and bit off another piece of chocolate, sticking his tongue out at Sirius, then hiding the rest of the bar behind his back as Sirius lunged for it. Before he knew it, they were in an almost wrestling match, Remus trying to keep the confection out of Sirius' reach and Sirius desperately grasping for it. They were both laughing, Remus to the point where he could barely move. It was probably no surprise, then, that Sirius eventually tackled him and pushed him over, pinning him on his back.

Remus' arm was trapped under his back, and Sirius had his hand tucked into the hollow, tickling Remus' back as he wriggled his fingers around, searching for the chocolate. Remus was chuckling still; Sirius' dark, soft hair was falling into Remus' face and he could feel Sirius' breath on his neck as the older boy laughed also. Remus could feel their bodies pressing together, legs tangling as they rolled about, fighting over the chocolate, hands pressing into random body parts.

Suddenly Remus froze. Bits of his body were reacting in a way he wished they wouldn't. Sirius stopped abruptly too, and the boys looked at each other. A strange light began to shine in Sirius' eyes as the two of them took in the situation. Remus began to feel decidedly uncomfortable, and was about to shove Sirius off of him, when the latter flattened his palm against Remus' back, pressing their bodies gently together, and leant his head down. The first touch of his lips on Remus' own sent the werewolf's senses into _overdrive_. Every part of his body seemed to tune into where Sirius was touching him – the arm around his waist, the silky black hair caressing his skin, where their noses rubbed together ... but most of all, the feel of those plump, soft lips pushing against his own. Remus pushed back.

As first kisses went, Remus thought, this one was just ... far too short. Only seconds into the kiss, just as Remus felt his body go electric with joy (and his brain go dead from shock), Sirius pulled back.

Sirius raised his body off of Remus, the hand on his back going slack. Remus couldn't read the look on Sirius' face. "Remus," he said, sounding sad and slightly stunned, "I'm really sorry."

"Don't be," Remus breathed back, eyes fixed on Sirius, desperately trying to understand what he was thinking.

Sirius went to speak, paused and sighed then tried again. "I guess I can't hide it now," he said. "Remus... I ... I uh, shouldn't." Sirius stopped abruptly.

Remus felt like someone had hit him in the chest. He swore his heart skipped _two_ beats. He was certain he was about to burst into tears. He tore his eyes away from Sirius and blinked rapidly. So close, and yet not close enough. Feebly, he pushed at Sirius' shoulder. "It's okay," Remus whispered, trying to sound calm and carefree and scarcely succeeding. "No one wants to kiss a werewolf."

That seemed to change something in Sirius. He dropped his weight into the elbow that was still wrapped around Remus' waist and grabbed the boy's chin in his other hand. Remus wouldn't meet his gaze. "Look at me," Sirius requested softly. It was difficult, but Remus did. Sirius stared into his eyes so intently Remus was sure he was going to cry then. He didn't; instead he sniffed.

Sirius sighed again, but this time it seemed different. If a sigh can be hopeful, that one was. "Remus, I can't hide it..." Sirius started again He continued hurriedly, "I love you. _I_ want to kiss a werewolf. I want to kiss _you_. I..."

Remus could feel himself shaking. "Do you mean it? You love me?"

Sirius' hand moved from Remus' chin to stroke his cheek. "More than anything. I don't know how you haven't seen it."

Remus giggled a little, feeling giddy as joy began to pump through his blood again. His heart was beating so hard he could hear it in his ears. There had been signs, Remus knew, but with Sirius one could never be sure where the joke ended and the truth started. He hadn't dared to hope. But now...

"I know I'll sound like a soap opera," Remus finally said in a hushed voice, dropping his gaze. "But I love you, too." He felt himself blush. When he finally looked up again he saw that Sirius was blushing as well.

"We're so stupid, Moony," he whispered, a beaming smile breaking on his face. In the background Brian Slade continued to sing. "Why didn't I kiss you a long time ago?"

"I don't know."

Brian Slade sang, "_We'll take the whole shebang! All or nothing – anything! Ecstasy's the birthright of our gang..._"

"The whole shebang, huh?" Remus smiled, gazing up at Sirius.

"All or nothing?" Sirius asked.

Remus knew what he meant. "All, I think... if that's what you want?"

"Remus, it's all I've wanted for such a long time." Sirius smiled at him. "I want the whole shebang with you." Remus felt Sirius' hand wriggle underneath him again, until it found the hand that was trapped underneath. Sirius twisted his fingers with Remus', the chocolate bar forgotten somewhere beneath them. Then boys both giggled a little bit as Sirius buried his face in Remus' neck. Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius, shifting slightly to make their bodies fit better together.

Remus turned his face to Sirius, gently kissing him on his full, sulky mouth. The second kiss was of a far better length, Remus thought, their lips moving together slowly, tongues shyly touching, tasting. Remus wrapped his hand into Sirius' hair again, pulling him closer. They explored each other, hands moving without thought, sweet touches becoming more intense. Sirius' hand was pressed into Remus hip; before long their bodies were rocking gently together without either really being aware of it.

Remus suddenly pulled back. "I don't think we want it All tonight, do we?" he asked, laughing a little shakily.

Sirius let out a juddering breath. "No," he agreed. He rolled off to the side, and lay beside Remus, keeping their hands entwined, pressing hot, short kisses along Remus' clavicle from time to time.

"I love you," Remus said, rolling his head to the side to look at Sirius, unable to hide the grin splitting his face. "It's so nice to finally say it."

Sirius smiled back. "Then don't ever stop."

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><p>EN: I hope everyone enjoyed this beginning chapter! Please take the time to review; I really appreciate it! Thanks guys. :)<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Here is chapter two! I hope it doesn't disappoint. I am trying to put the updates in quickly, but they may only be once a month. A thousand thanks yous to **eclectictsunami** - your review was greatly appreciated!

Disclaimer: As before.

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><p><span>Chapter 2<span>

There may have only been a few days left of the school term, but for Remus and Sirius they were incredibly difficult. The teachers expected the students to play up a little so close to Christmas break, but the two Marauders were entirely, _ridiculously_ distracted. They now sat together in every lesson they shared (they didn't share them all, much to Remus' melancholy), giggling and touching, driving James mad and bewildering Peter.

They were just as bad at meal times, in the hallways, in the common room ... now that they had license to touch, neither boy wanted to stop. They stole kisses at the breakfast table, held hands when walking to class. In the common room they curled up together in one armchair, or sprawled out on the couch. Peter and Claudia were amused and befuddled by the boys' behaviour – it had been awhile since they had been a new couple. They had started dating near the end of third year; Peter was the youngest of the Marauders by several months – their relationship had started at a far more innocent age than Remus and Sirius.

James was happy for them, though frustrated by their behaviour. Remus knew that was because now he was the only singleton in the group, which rattled him more because there was only one girl he wanted.

But it was at night time when things were the most different. That first night Sirius and Remus had stayed awake in the common room, touching and kissing and talking until both were too tired to keep their eyes open. Then they had lumbered up the stairs, kissed good night (Remus giggled at that cliché) and gone to their separate beds. Remus had thought he would never sleep from excitement, but he had quickly fallen into a peaceful slumber, a smile on his lips.

The next couple of nights were much the same. Remus had great difficulty in fitting his homework into his evenings – Sirius did not like to share with paperwork for Remus' attention. The night before the term let out Remus was cramming, trying to get all of his homework finished before leaving school. It was making Sirius feel neglected – something Remus knew for a fact since Sirius kept yelling it out to the common room at large – and so he was retaliating by tickling Remus' feet.

The group had liked Brian Slade's music so much Claudia had owled her mother to buy as many records as possible – all the boys had chipped in a little money for the cause. Brian's voice was slow and melodious in the song that was currently playing. None of them were really listening to the words though – they were too busy fighting over what the title meant.

"I'm telling you it's about the pencils!" Claudia said. Her mother was an artist – she knew all the ins-and-outs of muggle artist's implements. Peter nodded in agreement with his girlfriend. He was toying with Claudia's curls again.

"It means 'two heartbeats'," Sirius said, curling himself up close to Remus, his head almost in the werewolf's lap (oh happy days!), his smiling face turned up to Remus.

"It does not," James scoffed, smirking at the group. "Don't be silly."

"Well, what does it mean then, Jimmy-dear, if you're so clever?" Peter queried.

The sneer never left James' face. "I dunno."

The argument continued for a little longer, Remus the only hold out with an opinion. He finished up his Potions essay and waved his wand over it to dry the ink before placing the rolled-up scroll on the small hill of homework beside him. Only Ancient Runes left and he'd have everything done before the holidays even began.

"It's pencils!"

"It's not! That doesn't even make sense!"

"It's 'To Humphrey Bogart'."

Silence. Then:

"Well, that at least makes sense."

"To who?"

"Humphrey _Boggart_?"

"To Humphrey Bogart," Remus repeated, content to participate in the conversation in between essays. "He was a famous actor. Now he's dead. The song sounds like a dedication to me." Remus didn't add that he'd read a review on this album in one of his papers, which was why he knew.

James was nodding. "Definitely makes more sense than writing a song about pencils." Claudia poked her tongue out at him and Peter slapped him playfully on the arm. Sirius was mumbling something about how to stop boggarts that took on the forms of beloved celebrities. Remus had already zoned out again and was starting on his Ancient Runes.

It was amazing, Remus sometimes thought, how he was able to obliterate the group from his mind when he was studying. He wasn't sure how long his final essay took him to complete, but by the time he refocussed on the others Sirius had started up (god forbid) a sing along with the few people still in the common room. They had changed the record over to a David Bowie album and Sirius was screeching away at the top of his voice, hitting higher notes than the electric guitars.

Claudia was buffing her fingernails now, singing along, shaking her hair from side to side. Peter had fallen asleep, a half empty Firewhisky bottle upended in his lap. James was cavorting around the room with Sirius, both trying to 'out rock-star' the other. James at least was not tone deaf, so every time he drowned Sirius out it was a small blessing.

Remus gathered all of his homework scrolls up and packed them into a small wooden box that he kept for that very purpose. The box would go under his pillow in the morning and stay there for the duration of the Christmas holidays. In the morning he would pack the things he needed to take home with him and they would all get on the train. Sirius and Remus had already made plans to spend most of the holidays together. They both lived in London, though Remus was closer to the suburbs than the city. They would often catch up during holidays, meeting with James and sometimes Peter in Diagon Alley. This break, however, they planned to spend every day in Diagon Alley together. At least, Sirius had said with a grin, that's where they'd be telling their parents they were. After all, with the concert coming up Sirius was looking forward to buying new clothes and muggle fashions weren't available in Diagon Alley. He was also looking forward to dressing Remus up in true Glam rock style. Remus would just smile whenever Sirius mentioned this; he had decided that Sirius was twenty per cent girl.

Claudia looked around, having finished her nails, and saw Peter asleep. She leapt up to her full (five foot two inch minus platform shoe) height and ran across the room. James' and Sirius' rock star antics seemed to have rubbed off on her and she wanted someone to dance with. None of them seemed to have noticed that Remus had finished his homework.

Claudia had stopped at a table on the far side of the common room where two other sixth-year girls were playing chess. She dragged them both up by the hands and the three began to dance, holding their hands together in a circle. One girl was tall and slender, with a thin, bony face and plaits; the other was dark skinned with black hair tumbling down her back. Claudia had girl-friends outside of the group and these two were her closest, yet they hadn't been accepted into the Marauder fold. It had taken Claudia a whole school term to be fully welcomed – that welcome hadn't extended to her other friends. The boys were more like brothers than friends and had a reputation in the school that parred on godlike. They couldn't accept all and sundry into their brotherhood.

"Rargh!" Suddenly James let out a warrior yell and launched himself at Sirius. "Stop your foul whining! You have ruined this song forever!"

Remus looked around to see that James had tackled Sirius to the ground and was standing above him, one foot planted squarely on his chest. His eyes sparkled with mirth, but this show wasn't for Sirius.

"_Foul_ WHINING?" Sirius bellowed back, kicking his legs around in the air to no avail. "I'll have you know that I was born blessed with the voice of an angel! An angel from _heaven_, in fact, who blessed my birth by presenting me with his _own_ voice! So I am blessed and angelic!"

James peered down his nose at Sirius squirming on the ground. "Then that must have been the Fallen angel, Sirius, 'cause let me tell you, you sound more like a mermaid out of water."

"James!"

"Sirius!"

Sirius stopped trying to free himself and lay still, glaring up at James. "Why I oughta..."

James stood there, smirking again. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for Sirius' answer. Remus knew that he was about to be called in again to save the 'angel'.

"I oughta sic Remus on you!"

There were snickers from the few people in the room who were watching this exchange. Remus just sighed, got up and crossed the room. He shook his head as he walked then bumped James with his shoulder. James stumbled back, clutching his arm, mouth wide open as he began to wobble as if mortally wounded.

Remus bent over and reached a hand out to help Sirius up. The brunet shrieked, "My saviour! How may I ever repay you?"

Remus tried not to blush as he murmured back, "I can think of one or two ways."

Sirius grinned as well. He kissed Remus gently, chastely, on the lips. He pulled Remus into his arms, fitting their bodies tightly together. "Have you finished that awful homework now?"

"Yes, I have." Remus was relishing the feeling of having Sirius so close to him.

"Are you going to repay the Padfoot for neglecting him so dreadfully?"

"I suppose so," Remus murmured, his lips moving against Sirius' neck without him being really aware of it.

Sirius didn't say another word, but wrapped one arm around Remus' waist and led him up the stairs. The rest of the room had disappeared – Remus' senses were all tuned into Sirius. They didn't notice the group of dancing girls as they nearly bumped into them. They didn't see James go and sit on Peter to wake him up.

They didn't even really see the stairs and the door and the bedroom. Sirius kicked the door shut behind them and turned to Remus, wrapping his arms around his thin frame and pulling him so close that Remus almost couldn't tell where his body ended and Sirius' began. Those hands were running over his back, untucking his school shirt and sliding up his bare back ... ooh. Remus shuddered – Sirius' hands were freezing cold.

One of those chilly hands slid up Remus' neck, over his jaw and resting on his cheek. Sirius leaned forwards and kissed him again, gently, sweetly. "Felt like I haven't seen you all day," he said petulantly.

"Sirius..." Remus said, smiling and chuckling a little, leaning his face into Sirius' palm. That other hand was still stroking his back, tickling delightfully.

"Well, you've been doing school work all day."

This wasn't quite true. Remus and Sirius had skipped Transfiguration ("She can't teach me anything! We learned all of that rubbish long ago," Sirius had said) and spent the time hiding in the Restricted Section of the library, looking through gruesome books and charm catalogues to find new ways to wreak havoc on the school. The fact that they had been lying on their bellies and Sirius' had had his hand on Remus' arse the whole time seemed to have slipped the older boy's mind.

"Well, it's all finished now," Remus said, "and so I'll have all of the holidays to spend with just you."

"Aw, so corny," Sirius said sarcastically, but he was smiling widely and kissed Remus again. "I think I might like that."

"Yes, I thought you would," Remus said, kissing back. The back of his mind registered that talking with one's mouth full was an incredibly difficult experience.

Sirius' kisses grew deeper, his hand creeping into Remus' hair and tangling there, the other hand pressing now into Remus' back, pushing their bodies even closer together. Remus started to feel light headed – his blood was travelling south and he was losing his balance as Sirius kept pulling him closer.

"Bed," Remus tried to mumble, not sure how much sound he had actually made. Sirius must have got the gist, or thought the same thing, for in the next moment they were shuffling awkwardly (and Remus had always thought romance was supposed to be effortless. Lying movies) across the room until they found the nearest bed. Sirius pushed Remus onto it and plonked himself in Remus' lap.

_Gah_. Sirius' arse was pressing into him again; the senior boy was kissing him now fiercely, whole-body kind of kissing, as if he was trying to absorb Remus into himself. As if he couldn't get enough of Remus. Mm, what a nice thought.

"Sirius..." Remus whispered, pulling his mouth away from Sirius' bruising kiss. Sirius began to mouth his jaw instead. "Sirius, what are we doing?"

Sirius stopped suddenly. He pulled himself up straight, sucking in a few deep breaths and looking down into Remus' eyes. "I uh, I ... don't know," he said and smiled a little.

Remus smiled back. "I don't think we should have sex in James' bed," he said, glancing at the Gryffindor comforter he was sitting on. "He doesn't get any action himself; he might not appreciate it."

Sirius giggled a bit, but his eyes were serious.

Remus pushed at him gently. "Get up." Sirius did. Remus crossed the few steps to his own bed and beckoned Sirius to join him. "Come over here," he said. Sirius did.

Remus reclined on the bed, propping himself up against the headboard. He patted a space next to him for Sirius, who, just to be difficult, climbed _over_ Remus to sit on the far side. Remus gave him a crooked smile, then reached out and drew the drapes around his bed – it was suddenly very dark. Sirius whispered, "_Lumos_." His wand tip began to shine; Sirius took it out of his school robe pocket and placed the wand on the flat top of the headboard, wedging it between two stacks of books Remus had there.

Remus pulled out his own wand. He waved it at the bed hangings and muttered, "_Silencio_." He turned to look at Sirius. The dim light had made his eyes glow, and hard to read. Remus reached out and took Sirius' hand, the simple gesture making him blush. He hoped Sirius wouldn't notice.

He did. He leaned close and kissed Remus on the cheek. "You're gorgeous," he said softly, keeping their faces close. "You don't need to be embarrassed with me."

"I'm not," Remus was quick to assure him. "I'm just a little ... nervous."

"Mhm, pale and nervous Remus." Sirius was quoting a Brian Slade song from the vinyl they had listened to earlier that evening. "You don't need to be nervous with me."

"I know," Remus said, feeling almost shy, though he couldn't tell why. "But I am anyway."

Sirius was still nuzzling Remus, pressing light kisses against his cheek, ear, neck... His free hand was fondling a tangled path through Remus' hair and he whispered, "Why?"

"Because," Remus said, leaning involuntarily into Sirius' caress, feeling his skin tingle with every tiny touch, "I'm not very ... experienced at this kind of thing."

"So? What d'you think, I'm gonna laugh at you?"

Remus blushed again. "Maybe."

Sirius chuckled quietly. "Man, you are so wrong."

"You just laughed at me then!" Remus said, but he was laughing now too.

"Remus," Sirius said when they had stopped, "I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with. I mean, we don't need to rush. Just being able to touch you at all is good enough for me. Plus, this isn't the most romantic place..."

"Okay, Sirius, I'm not a total girl." Remus smacked him playfully on the arm. "I just want it to happen organically in the right place – which is _not_ James' bed. I don't want it to be planned. 'Cause then it's just awkward and forced."

"Okay." Sirius smiled gently and planted a soft, lingering kiss on Remus' cheek. "Well, let's just ... carry on. And then see what happens." He trailed the kisses down Remus' jaw and neck. Remus felt his brain start to switch off, letting the apprehensive section sleep as he focussed on the sensation of Sirius' tongue and supple lips pressing against his clavicle.

Remus heard himself murmur as Sirius rolled over a little, laying now half on top of him, their legs twisting together. Sirius' fingers were pulling clumsily at the buttons of Remus' shirt, his mouth claiming each inch of skin as it became exposed.

It was when Sirius reached his waistband, tugging at those final buttons, that Remus grabbed him and dragged the brunet back up. Remus wrapped one hand tightly into Sirius' long, silky hair, knotting the fine strands together and ignoring the subsequent noises of horror Sirius made. He pulled their faces together, claiming a fiery, brutal kiss, bruising in its intensity. Sirius' hands had stayed at Remus' waistband, fiddling with the fly buttons (all four of them) on Remus' jeans.

Their bodies were moving together, bumping and grinding, heads twisted strangely against the headboard, knees digging into soft flesh. Neither of them noticed.

"_Gaahhh_!" Remus tore his head back and let his breath out on a gasp as Sirius managed to get the tricky buttons undone and slid his hand, in a no-nonsense fashion, under the fabric and pressed. "Sirius! Didn't we just say..."

"Shhh," Sirius whispered back, kissing Remus fervently. "It'll be far out. Unless you want me to stop?"

Sirius executed some little twist with his hand, quite difficult given how tight Remus' flares were, and Remus sucked his breath in sharply. He said shakily, "Not really." Sirius kissed him and smiled against Remus' lips. Remus was barely aware of the throaty noises he was making as Sirius began to manoeuvre his hand. He was sighing into Sirius' mouth, one hand wrapped in that black hair, holding tight to keep them pressed close together.

These first touches were electric, exquisite, almost painful as Sirius teased, tempted Remus. Every so often he would remove his hand completely, obviously enjoying the power he currently wielded.

"You son of a bitch," Remus growled eventually. "Stop it."

"Oh," Sirius said, keeping his hand away this time. "If you say so." He was grinning from ear to ear as he looked down mischievously at Remus.

"Sirius!" Remus snapped, glowering back.

"Sh. Hush darling." Sirius started to shuffle further down the bed. "Trust me. It's good for you."

"It's good for me to trust you?" Remus questioned, releasing his death-grip and stroking one hand lazily over Sirius' hair.

"Mm. Yes. But that's not what I meant."

Remus didn't have to wait long to find out what Sirius meant. And he agreed. It was good for him.

* * *

><p>Remus woke the next morning with a smile on his face and his man in his arms. He pressed a kiss to Sirius' head and looked around. Sirius' school robe was tossed over the end of the bed, his shirt was undone, showing a dark stripe of hair on the belly, a sparse tuft on the chest and well toned muscles rising gently with each breath. Long legs were stretched out; Remus could feel one pressed against his own legs, the other was flung near the bed's edge, clear of the covers. Remus could feel the smooth coolness of Sirius' black silk boxers pressed against his thigh.<p>

He wanted to relish this moment – the first time he woke up with someone he loved by his side. Unfortunately it was the day to leave school which meant needing to get up early – the carriages would trundle up to the front of the castle immediately after breakfast and getting the first one meant getting the best compartment on the train. Which meant being ready before the carriages were, which meant, Remus sighed, getting up _now_ so that breakfast was a vague afterthought by the time they left.

And yet, when Remus turned to face Sirius with the intention of waking him, he found himself settling back against the pillows instead, smiling. Sirius looked so beautiful, and comfortable that Remus didn't really have the heart to wake him. Of course, he could leave him sleeping and organise himself. Or maybe James and Peter would be ready to go instead. Or maybe the Marauders would just have to have a rubbish compartment – one of the ones at the back of the train with the splitting upholstery, the tiny windows near the roof, the box itself so small that four people was a crowd, and _everyone's_ knees touched.

Then again, that didn't sound _too_ bad...

Sirius suddenly rolled over, flopping on to his side and facing Remus, stretching languidly and groaning. He opened his eyes and smiled at Remus. "Good morning, starshine," he whispered, creeping closer to Remus and laying their faces together, cheek to cheek.

Remus felt his arms slide around Sirius' warm body and smiled as the dark-haired boy squeezed him into a hug. "Shouldn't I be 'moonshine'?" he jokingly queried.

Remus thought Sirius was trying to shrug, but couldn't quite manage it since Remus' head was wedged over his shoulder. "Well, I guess so. You certainly intoxicate me..." Sirius giggled, turning his head slightly and kissing Remus' jawbone.

It wasn't long until that kiss had travelled down the length of Remus' mandible and had landed on his mouth. After that, all thoughts of making an early start vanished from Remus' mind as lips touched and tasted, tongues pressing gently, hands running over soft faces and hard muscles...

Until:

"You bloody did! And I've been standing here talking to myself like an idiot for ten minutes!"

Remus pulled back, but Sirius didn't move, keeping his lips pursed and eyes closed, evidently waiting for Remus to return to the snog-fest.

"Get up, you gits!" Something big, hard, heavy and book shaped crashed into Remus, crumpling his bed hangings and dragging them across the bed. They could hear James muttering to himself: "Bloody pair of hormonal dicks, screwing under my bloody nose and then putting charms up and ignoring me all morning. Now we're gonna be late for breakfast and there won't be any kippers left... arsehole doggish gits."

Sirius sat bolt upright and threw the curtains open at that, clambering (painfully) across Remus to confront their accuser. "James!"

James had the good grace to blush a little, especially, Remus noted with a vague embarrassment, when he noticed Sirius' rumpled hair, unbuttoned shirt and lack of trousers.

Sirius was perched haphazardly on the bed, and partly still on Remus. "Now, Jim-bo," he said placatingly, using James' most hated nickname. "In the first case, we are not screwing – at least not at the moment." Sirius grinned roguishly and winked at Remus. James scowled. "In the second case, we could have left the charm off, but do you think you really would have wanted to hear if we _were_ doing anything?" That made James flush again – clearly that thought had not occurred to him when he had removed the charm from Remus' curtains.

"In the third case," Remus interjected, "we probably should get on to breakfast."

Sirius' face fell a little as he realised the romping was over for the time being. Then he perked up again, leapt off the bed (and Remus, much to the delight of his pinched nerves) and wrapped an arm around James. "Yes!" he exclaimed. "Can't have Jimmy going without kippers for breakfast!"

James tried, mostly successfully, to keep the smile from his lips. "Put some clothes on, you bloody great woofter." James' face may have been foreboding, but his voice, though grumbling, was nothing but affectionate. He certainly wasn't a morning person.

When the three boys were finally dressed and had packed and re-checked their trunks (which would be stowed away while they were at breakfast) they stumbled down the many, many stairs to breakfast.

"I tell you what," Sirius said, squeezing Remus' hand. "I bet we all gain some weight when we leave school. This place requires so much exercise."

James rolled his eyes and said nothing, and Remus just squeezed Sirius' hand back.

They reached the Great Hall to find Peter and Claudia sitting at the end of the table nearest the door. There was a gaggle of sixth year girls sitting with them, and Remus snickered to himself, thinking how at home Peter looked in a group of girls. The three boys slid across the bench opposite their friends and Sirius made a big show of getting the platter of kippers and depositing it in front of James. James glowered at him in return. Sirius beamed back, helping himself to pancakes and passing Remus the fruit toast.

The girls were discussing the pros and cons of platform shoes. Peter had been explaining why he liked clear heels, but stopped once Remus began chuckling again. He stuck his tongue out at Remus and helped himself to some more sausages.

Remus glanced over at James and noticed that _he_ kept glancing at the girls. Remus rubbed his chin with one long finger, ignoring the scratch of his stubble. He squinted, taking in the situation and a plot began to form in his head – a most diabolical plot that would surely have nothing but the best consequences. Providing he could pull it off and nothing backfired. He would need to speak to Claudia and Sirius though – he'd need their help.

Peter's voice interrupted Remus' reverie; "Give us a smile, Jim boy. What's up your nose this morning?"

James curled his lip a little as he looked around the table at them all. "Nothing."

"He's jealous," Sirius said with a broad grin. "'Cause I get to make out with Remus and he doesn't."

Peter rolled his eyes, Claudia heard and laughed, Remus assessed James' reaction: the bespectacled boy grabbed the largest kipper on his plate and slapped Sirius over the head with it twice, until Sirius jumped up from his seat and ran away. James ran after him, flailing the fish in the air. They all started laughing – as did many of the rest of the breakfasting students – as the two black haired boys ran circles around the Great Hall, bits of fish and long hair flying.

Remus didn't get a chance to talk to Claudia alone that day and he hadn't wanted to drag her off somewhere for fear of looking suspicious. Sirius had noticed that Remus had something on his mind and had taken it upon himself to distract him by whispering filthy nothings into his ear for the entire train ride to Kings Cross.

James had cheered up somewhat as the day progressed and was playing cards with Peter and Claudia. Remus was trying to read, but between Sirius and the plot forming in his head he wasn't getting very far.

It was cold and dark when the train finally pulled into Kings Cross, rain falling heavily in the breezy afternoon. The group were huddled on the platform, not wanting to go out into the chill air until they knew their parents were there to greet them. Remus and Sirius had plans to spend the rest of the day together in London but the others all needed to wait for their parents to collect them as none of the group had their Apparating licenses yet. Claudia and Peter were spending the first part of the break apart, Claudia returning to Normandy to spend the festive season with her family. After Christmas she was going to Manchester to stay with Peter until the concert. James would be returning to Godric's Hollow until then also. The group had decided to stay at Sirius' house for the concert, as his parents were going to be away after Christmas. But until then, it was time for goodbyes.

When Remus had owled his parents to tell them he would be staying at Sirius' for the concert, they had seemed stunned that four boys who saw each other every day would _choose_ to spend their brief breaks apart together. Remus hadn't told them, for fear of appearing as if he didn't want to see them, that given the option he wouldn't be leaving Sirius' side for a single second.

Claudia's parents were the first to arrive, which meant Remus wouldn't be able to speak to her about his plan. Claudia gave every boy a warm hug before departing. She looked like half a person between her parents, both of whom were taller than average.

Peter was next to go. His mother came alone to greet him; his father was an important figure at the Ministry.

Which left just Remus, Sirius and James. The latter was sitting on his trunk; passersby were shooting him odd looks as he stroked his barn owl through the bars of her travelling cage. He gave the other two a grin. "It's nice to come home."

Remus nodded, and Sirius said, "It sure is. I miss London when we're at school."

Remus didn't miss London. At least, not in the same way. When he came home there was only one thing on his mind – the magical cell where he was forced to endure his transformations. He had always preferred the Shrieking Shack. At least the sunlight came in there in the mornings when he awoke. And at least for the last couple of years he had had his friends with him. Remus had begun to feel more and more resentment when he came home. He hated the feeling.

James breathed in deep through his nose and threw his shoulders back. "I'm glad to see you two together finally. Bloody idiots, skirting around the issue for so long."

Remus and Sirius shared a bemused look. When they looked back over at James he was rolling his eyes.

"Clearly I've known longer than the two of you how you feel about each other. You've both been so bloody obvious I don't know how you could both be so oblivious. Silly buggers, the pair of you." James grinned up at them. "Sorry I went off this morning."

"Don't worry about it," Remus said, smiling.

"Yeah, man, we're used to you in the mornings."

Before James could reply, his parents came in. James' mother beamed at them all, hugged her son and then both Sirius and Remus; his father shook the latter pair's hands, reserving a brief, manly hug for his son. After some brief chitchat the Potters left and Remus and Sirius were left alone. They pulled their muggle coats tight around their bodies and stepped out into the cold afternoon.

Standing on the steps of Kings Cross, shivering slightly in the December air, Sirius took Remus hand, smiled warmly at him and asked, "How 'bout some hot chocolate?"

Remus nodded. Sirius knew the inner city better than Remus, and led the way, dragging him through the dripping streets until they reached a cafe that specialised in chocolate products. "This place is great," Sirius said. "They make it with real chocolate, not just powder, and you get it on a little crockery kiln with a candle to keep it hot."

Remus couldn't stop himself from beaming at the thought. Sirius knew him too well.

Once their drinks were served, Remus attempted to turn the conversation to his plot. He tried desperately to ignore the sensuous moans Sirius made every time he took a mouthful of chocolate. Finally, Sirius behaved and focussed on what Remus was saying.

Sirius began to stroke his chin, much the same as Remus had when the plan had occurred to him. He noted with a private laugh that Sirius also had some growth on his chin. The back of his mind wondered what that stubble would feel like scratching across his bare skin. Remus took a mouthful of his drink and tried not to blush.

Sirius wasn't paying attention. He was nodding slowly and saying, "Yes... yes, I think it could work. We need to talk to Claudia."

"Tomorrow," Remus said, trying to keep his thoughts G-rated. "Let her settle in and spend the night with her parents before she has to see our gormless faces again."

Sirius was instantly outraged. He cried, "Gormless! Remus, I'll have you know that this face," Sirius held one hand up and pointed a finger directly between his eyes, "was carved from the purest marble by Michelangelo! He considered this face for David but thought it was so beautiful it would _hurt_ people to look upon it and not be able to ever kiss these perfect lips. And so instead-"

"Yes, Sirius," Remus said. "You don't usually give me these spiels, remember, 'cause I don't listen."

Sirius pouted. Remus pouted back. Sirius pouted deeper. Remus stuck his tongue out. They both laughed.

"Someone has to listen to my dramatic monologues, you know." Sirius said next. "And you're the only one here, Remie-dear."

"Oh Sirius, you make my heart melt with your sweet romance."

"Damn straight, man."

After a pause Remus said, "I like you calling me 'dear'."

Sirius smiled gently. "You are my dear."

_Dammit_, Remus thought, _why can Sirius say these things without ever blushing?_ The next moment Sirius had reached across the table and had taken his hand. "You know that I completely love you, right?"

"I know," Remus replied, mirroring Sirius' quiet smile. "I love you too."

"You'd better," Sirius said. "'Cause it's not everyone that I let mess up my hair."

Remus mock-frowned. "It's not everyone I let talk to me like that. You're very rude."

Sirius rolled his eyes and clutched at his heart with his free hand. "You wound me! You most dastardly lover you!" Sirius began another hysterical monologue.

Remus watched him, deadpan, continuing to sip his chocolate. Eventually Sirius cottoned on to the fact that he was getting no reaction and halted in his histrionics. By that time Remus had finished his beverage and was poring over the cafe's menu. Mmm, there were some delicious sounding things to be had...

"Are you finished?" Sirius asked. "Shall we head to Diagon Alley and look at the clothes then?"

"Sirius," Remus began, using his patient prefect voice, usually reserved for misbehaving first years. "It is freezing cold outside and we've just got off the train from school. The last thing I want to do is parade about Diagon Alley in the _rain_ and gawp at some silly fad clothes."

Sirius pouted a little; Remus knew he wanted to launch into another tirade to defend his beloved fad, but he restrained himself. "Well then, dear debonair Moony, what would you suggest?"

Remus pondered for a moment. If he was being completely honest, he would have loved to stay in the cafe for the rest of the day, trying their various items of chocolatey delight. Sirius, who had a terrible sweet tooth, Remus was sure would not _entirely_ object. But yet, they had many days of winter break in which to visit.

Then something occurred to Remus – something he felt certain Sirius would enjoy, and a fun way for them both to pass the afternoon in a dry, warm fashion. It _would_ involve poking fingers into odd, small holes, and a little physical effort on both their parts, but Remus was sure Sirius would be up for it.

"How about we go bowling?"

Sirius, despite being a regular stalker in muggle London, had never been bowling before. With a little help from the cashier at the cafe, the two boys held hands and jogged through the damp, busy streets, Sirius leading the way, until they found the address they'd been given. Several minutes later they were sipping cokes as their coats steamed mildly in the warm air of the bowling alley.

Remus had bowled a few times with his father, who was a big fan of all things muggle. Remus was good, with his wolf heightened abilities, yet he never tried hard to succeed. Sports had never really been his thing – he preferred playing chess, or brandubh or cards – things his sensible mind was good at. Remus didn't try because he knew he would be too good at sports, which would draw attention to himself; besides which, he liked his scholarly pursuits. James was the athletic one in their group, and it was Peter who was good at games.

Both boys did terribly at the bowling – Remus tossing the ball any which way and Sirius trying hard and failing miserably. They fell about laughing, hanging off of each other as they watched the balls roll into the gutter or just barely knock one pin at the edge. Eventually, after three games, they stumbled out into the cold city street again.

It was dark now, the sun setting early in the winter months. Lights from office buildings were glimmering in the hazy night, rain still drizzling. Remus was supposed to catch the Tube home before it got too late; his parents were expecting him for supper. Sirius would take a taxi and then they would be apart, completely apart for the first night in nearly three months.

Remus always found it hard the first few nights without the other boys – he was used to falling asleep to the sound of Sirius muttering, Peter's rhythmical breathing and James' gentle snores. When he was home it was silent as the grave, the double glazed windows blocking out the sound of even the traffic. At Hogwarts it was pitch black inside his curtained bed. At home even thick-backed drapes couldn't keep out the glare of streetlamps. And now he would be apart from Sirius. Remus definitely felt resentment for London.

Sirius walked him to the Tube. On the platform they hugged, Remus stroking Sirius' long, damp hair and Sirius squeezing him so tight it was hard to breathe. "A whole night apart, so soon..." Sirius murmured.

"Only one night," Remus said.

"And then another and another... it's awful already and we haven't even said goodbye yet," Sirius complained.

"Only for a week."

"_Two_ weeks."

"It's not two weeks."

"It _nearly_ is."

Remus sighed, and snuggled his head further into Sirius' shoulder. "We're as bad as girls."

"I know," Sirius said, trying to laugh. "But it still sucks, especially after last night. I wanted to pick up where we left off."

Remus slapped Sirius' on the back, which was the most easily accessible area of him at the moment. "We will."

A static noise vibrated through the speakers and then a destination was announced.

Remus sighed again.

"That's your train," Sirius said, not letting go.

"That's my train," Remus echoed, squeezing tight for a few more seconds. Gently, he pulled back and placed a slow, gentle, lingering kiss on Sirius' morose pout. When he was done, he kissed him again, not caring who was watching or what they might think. "I'd better go," Remus said at length.

"Okay." Sirius looked sadder than Remus had seen him in a long time.

_We're being ridiculous_, he told himself. Taking a deep breath he said to Sirius, "Buck up. It's only one night."

"Yeah," Sirius said, giving him a sweet, watery smile. "I'll see you first thing in the morning. I'll be there before you're even awake."

Remus laughed, gave his boyfriend one last, quick hug, and jogged on to his train just as the final bell was ringing. He waved out the door windows as the train started to move off. Sirius blew him a kiss, and Remus stood there until that mop of black hair had completely disappeared from sight.

On the ride home he had to laugh at himself. Though it was unpleasant to be apart so soon after having gotten together, now that the separation had started, while difficult, it wasn't anywhere near as unbearable as Remus had thought it might be. _Stupid teenage hormones making me act like a lovesick school girl_, he berated himself. Then again, he was missing Sirius already...

The next morning dawned dreary and damp, but Remus couldn't be unhappy about it because the first thing he heard was a knock on the front door of his parent's home. His evening with them had been nice; they were both happy to see him and his mother had refrained from mollycoddling him too much. He had gone to bed thinking about Sirius and the naughty, adult things they had done the night before. As Remus reminisced, he found himself unable to stop one hand from stealing its way into his boxer shorts. When he came it was with Sirius' face in his mind.

Now, as he leapt out of bed and threw on some clean clothes, he could hear his mother's voice and then Sirius' answering her. Without even brushing his hair he threw open his bedroom door and barrelled down the stairs, throwing himself into Sirius' arms and kissing his neck, right there on the door step.

"Good morning to you too, moonshine," Sirius said. He sounded amused, but the feel of his lips on Remus' ear convinced the werewolf he had been just as missed that night. "Uh, Remus... your mum is staring at us."

Reluctantly, Remus pulled away and turned to face his mother, not sure what to expect. She looked somewhat stunned, but simply said, with one eyebrow raised, "Well, I guess that explains a bit. I'm making waffles boys, if you want some."

As Remus' mother returned to the kitchen, Sirius wrapped one arm around Remus and said, "Shall we Floo Claudia now?"

They went into the lounge room to use the fireplace there. Claudia looked a little annoyed at being disturbed so early, but perked up as the boys explained their plan.

"Yes... yes, it could work," she said, sitting cross-legged before them. "I mean, it's totally obvious they're crazy about each other... yes. I'll make the arrangements and get back to you..." after a moment's consideration, Claudia added, "My father needs to come into London on Christmas Eve for some business. How about I meet you both in Diagon Alley and we can go over this all then?"

"Sounds far out," Sirius said, just as Remus replied "Brilliant."

"Right, good-o," Claudia said. "Now go away so I can finish my breakfast. Bye-bye."

Remus pulled his head out of the fireplace as Claudia waved to them, and grabbed Sirius once the world had stopped spinning.

"We are geniuses," Remus declared.

"Utter, utter geniuses," Sirius agreed.

Remus' mother called them in to the kitchen.

"Now we've just got to hope the plan works," Remus said, putting his arm around Sirius' waist as they walked to the kitchen.

"How can it not, when it's got you as the mastermind behind it?" Sirius kissed Remus' cheek.

"We'll see," Remus joked darkly. "We'll see."

"Your confidence in yourself is awe-inspiring," Sirius said with good-natured sarcasm and patting Remus on the bum.

Remus smiled. "You'd still love me even if I was being serious. In fact, you'd probably love me even more if I was Sir-"

"Don't make that joke again!" Sirius screeched and pulled away, snapping his hands over his ears. Remus chuckled. There wasn't much Sirius hated more than jokes about his name. Except maybe a hair out of place.

"I do love you though," Sirius said, coming back over and kissing Remus on the cheek again.

"I know," Remus said, smiling. "Now let's get some breakfast."

* * *

><p>I'm sorry for the funny ending to this chapter, it didn't really flow for me but I couldn't come up with anything else. In the next chapter the plan is revealed!<p>

Thank you to anyone who has time to review, it is greatly appreciated. :)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hi all! Finally here's chapter three. It's a bit shorter than the others. There will be two more chapters, but they may be awhile in coming as I'm losing interest in publishing this story. I am very disappointed in its reception - close to four hundred different hits but only three reviews. Very sad indeed.

Disclaimer: As before.

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 3<span>

The thirtieth of December couldn't come quickly enough for Remus. Even though he had seen Sirius almost every day he couldn't get used to the separation. It was funny – at school there were times Remus longed for space from his friends and more often than not couldn't find it. Now they were forced to be apart Remus found himself wishing that they were _all_ around, annoying him. _Ah well_, Remus' mind whispered, _the heart always wants what it cannot have_.

Remus' transformation had been just a little over a week ago. He hadn't seen Sirius much the day after, though he had come to visit briefly; Remus had spent the day recovering in bed. Sirius had kissed him gently and brought him hot chocolate, cradling Remus' head in his lap as he slowly sipped it.

Then the next day, on Christmas Eve, they had gone to Diagon Alley to meet with Claudia. Remus was looking peaky and pale, and was feeling drawn and tired. He felt a little grizzly about being dragged out into the fresh, slushy snow, even if it had been of his own making. Sirius had hugged him tight around the shoulders as they walked to Fortescue's for hot fudge sundaes.

This was where they were meeting Claudia to develop the plan Remus had thought of the day school had let out. The plan was to be carried out in a week's time, at the David Bowie New Year's concert that the Marauders were all attending.

Claudia was already there when the boys arrived. She was sitting in a chair with her legs curled under her, a purple coat tugged around her curvy frame. Her hair had gone mildly frizzy from the damp air and she had twisted it all up on top of her head in a loopy bun. A packet of cigarettes sat on the table next to her purse.

"So," Claudia started, once the boys were seated (close together, as Sirius was concerned about Remus, weakened as he was by his transformation and thus kept encouraging the pale boy to lean on him for support, ehee). "I Flooed Lily and asked her about the concert. She's a big rock fan too, so she was in straight away. Turned out she actually _wanted_ to go but had no one to go _with_, so she seemed really quite grateful when I invited her."

"Did she suspect the reason?"

"We-ell," Claudia dragged the word out, tapping a perfectly painted red fingernail against her bottom teeth. "She did ask me who else was going with me. I told her Peter, naturally, and you Sirius, which was obvious because you'd only been yelling about it for ages at school. Then I said that you and Remus were more or less joined at the hip and so James was coming too, if only to not be left out."

"And?" Remus asked. He thought about Claudia's 'joined at the hip comment'. Not entirely accurate, though it didn't sound like a bad idea... Remus settled his head a bit more on Sirius' shoulder.

"It was amazing. Her whole face sort of lit up, though she didn't want to show it. I mean, I share a room with her at school so naturally I've read her diary. I dunno why she and James are so dense – they're even thicker than the two of you. I think this is a brilliant idea, Remus."

They all shared an excited glance, keeping quiet as their sundaes were placed in front of them.

Sirius said, once the server had left, "So all we have to figure out is how to get them together at the concert. I mean, if they dance together, great, if they kiss, far out, but I think we're all hoping for the same outcome here, and that is that they have sex in the bathroom."

"Sirius!" Remus cried. Claudia just laughed, trying not to spit a mouthful of nuts and sprinkles onto the table.

"What? I mean, isn't that every teenager's dream?"

"Sounds like a pretty happy outcome to me," Claudia agreed. "But how do we get it to happen?"

"Well..." Sirius began, but then trailed off. It wasn't often Sirius was at a loss. Remus enjoyed the moment.

"We need to work out a song that Bowie is bound to play, that they both love, and that we can dance to."

The team was silent for a moment as they thought through their options. Then Claudia let out a yelp. "I think I know – Lily is a huge fan of Brian Slade – he was mainly why she wanted to go to this concert – and she loves that song 'Ladytron' – I hear her humming it all the time. James likes that one too, and not only can you dance to it but you can sort of slow dance to it too."

Remus and Sirius blinked at her. Claudia could be hard to keep up with and had a habit of repeating words so it took them a second to wrap their minds around what she was saying. Then Sirius began to nod slowly.

"Good," Remus said, spooning chocolate sauce into his mouth. Mm, sticky chocolate yum-ness. "Now all we have to do is figure out how to get them to dance."

"How can we be sure they'll even get together after this?" it was unlike Sirius to be a voice of reason, and the other two looked at him.

"I think..." Claudia said, "that once they break down that wall, they won't be able to help themselves. Lily is actually meeting me here after so we can go shopping and get her something totally hot to wear so James won't be able to resist her."

"We can always taunt them into it," Remus said.

"You've been spending too much time with me," Sirius said, beaming down at Remus. "I'm such a good influence on you."

"Mhm," Remus murmured but he was smiling as he adjusted his head – Sirius' shoulder was where he wanted to be, but it wasn't the most comfortable pillow.

"I guess we can always just push Lily into James' lap or something..." Claudia thought aloud. "Or us and Peter could form a circle around them and push them together..."

"We could threaten them!" Sirius said excitedly. "Like, if they don't make out they'll have to watch me make love to Remus right there on the dance floor."

Remus threw Sirius a half-disgusted half-amused look (or tried to throw it anyway, which didn't really work considering he was lying on Sirius' shoulder and was facing Claudia).

"Like you need an excuse to molest me in public," he muttered instead.

"Oh Remus, is that an invitation?" Sirius shifted, forcing Remus to sit up, and grasped the boy's chin in his hand, making exaggerated kissing motions at him.

"No." Remus grumbled, "Stop it. I was asleep."

Claudia wasn't paying attention to them Remus realised as he settled himself back against Sirius, who wrapped one possessive arm around him – the girl was still rattling off random ideas aloud.

"Right." Sirius said, "Claudia, you worry about making Evans look irresistible so that Jim will want to ravish her. Remus will worry about making Jim less oblivious, and _I_ will worry about making Remus irresistible and wanting to ravish me."

"Will you drop it already?" Remus snapped, only half jokingly. "Anyone would think you were single and desperate. Or that I'm frigid, which is not very nice of you."

Sirius smiled indulgently and gave Remus a tight squeeze. "Of course I'll drop it, dearest."

They continued talking, batting about ideas when they came to mind but by the time the ice-cream was completely eaten and there were just smears of chocolate sauce left in the bottom of the glass bowls, they all had to admit that apart from dressing James and Lily appropriately and getting them to show up, there wasn't much else they could do.

"Booze!" Sirius cried suddenly. "How is we hadn't thought of _that_ yet?"

"Because it goes without saying," Claudia replied, then stood up and came around the table. The boys stood too and she hugged them both. "Feel better soon, Rem," she said with a kind smile. She put her hands into the small of her back and stretched. "Right, well I'd better go and meet Lily 'cause my dad finishes his business in a few hours and who _knows_ how long finding the right outfit could take?"

Remus and Sirius pulled their coats about them as they followed Claudia out of Fortescue's and went their own way. Sirius' coat was thick, short and furry, the very height of fashion. Remus almost thought he could _see_ the goose bumps on Sirius' thighs through his painted-on denim flares. Fashion was seldom practical, he supposed, and was glad for his old, navy trench coat. It covered him from collar to calf, obliterating his cord flares and Marc Bolan t-shirt from public view. They both tried hard not to slip in the sleet as they picked a way through Diagon Alley in low platform boots.

"Well," Sirius said, blinking at Remus from mascara-ed eyes. "What do you feel like doing?"

"To be honest, I just want to crawl into bed, and be warm and comfortable, with you curled up with me."

Sirius smiled. "That does sound nice. We'll go back to my place if you like. But first, do you feel up to spot of shopping?"

"Sirius, I really do not feel like putting on a fashion show for you."

Sirius stuck an arm around Remus and pulled him close. "You don't have to. I actually meant for your Christmas present. Thought you might like to pick something out from the bookstore."

Remus smiled, and pressed a kiss to Sirius' cheek. "Yeah, okay, cool."

"Cool." Sirius repeated, then said, "Actually, fucking cold. I don't think I can really feel my legs anymore."

Remus chuckled. He reckoned it was the first time he'd laughed in the past couple of days.

The bookstore was nice and warm and Remus enjoyed poking through the shelves. He thought how good it was of Sirius to do something so nice for him, despite it being something Sirius would find tedious – though not unbearable. In fact, it appeared as the time ticked away that Sirius was rather enjoying the bookstore.

They ended up spending a lot of the afternoon there, riffling through old tomes and new releases. When they left they both had a bag, though Remus' was nearly three times as full.

Sirius smiled as he led the way back out to muggle London and ushered Remus into a taxi. He leant across the back seat and kissed Remus gently on the cheek. "I love seeing you happy," he whispered.

Remus smiled back and shuffled across the seat to cuddle with Sirius. They sat together, Remus reading the blurbs for his new books during the ride, which wasn't long. They arrived at Sirius' home just as it started to snow again. Remus stood for a moment on the doorstep, laughing and trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue, but Sirius was jumping from foot to foot, complaining about getting damp hair and his freezing legs.

They went inside, said hello to Sirius' parents and went upstairs to Sirius' bedroom, chased by a family of Labradors as they went. Sirius' bedroom was painted ruby-red, with black and red floral drapes at the many windows. There were posters of Bowie, T-Rex, the Flaming Creatures, Lou Reed, and the Wild Rats plastered across the ceiling. Sirius' bed was an old, heavy wooden four-poster, with thin ribbons of silver tinsel twisted around the uprights. The bedspread was neon blue. His wardrobe was painted orange and was covered with various photographs and newspaper clippings. The whole effect gave Remus something of a headache.

Remus hadn't been to Sirius' house since the summer before, and they had never spent time in his bedroom. Sirius' house was magically enhanced; it was huge and Sirius had his own set of rooms where the boys would hang out when they visited. Remus tried to ignore the colour scheme as he put his bag of books down near the door and crossed the room to the wardrobe, studying the photos scattered across it.

"Oh, uh..." Sirius came up beside him, a little flushed.

Remus raised his eyebrows, surprised to see Sirius embarrassed. He looked back at the cupboard. The paper cuttings mostly depicted bands and singers largely cut from muggle newspapers. _That explains what happens to the papers mum sends me_, Remus thought. After reading them and passing them onto Sirius, Remus never saw them again. Clearly Sirius was taking the bits he liked home with him.

Remus looked next to the photographs. These were all wizard photos, the people in them moving about. Many of the pictures were of the Marauders, participating in various mischievous activities or lounging around. There were a few of James at Quidditch matches and one of Peter's face at the surprise birthday party the group had thrown for him in fifth year. Yet the majority of the snapshots were of Remus himself: Remus dancing with James around the Great Hall after Gryffindor House won at the end of fourth year... Remus playing chess with Peter and beating him soundly... Remus playing cards with Peter and _being_ beaten soundly... Remus throwing a bar of chocolate at the photographer because he was angry at having his picture taken, shirtless, when he was bathing his transformation wounds... Remus against all three other Marauders in a snowball fight and winning... Remus and Sirius roughhousing... Remus sleeping by the edge of the Great Lake, half in the water...

Remus remembered that last one – the four of them had been out drinking all night one weekend. He looked around the wardrobe to see if there were pictures of the others – Claudia had found them all in the morning and taken the snapshots to taunt them with. Sirius had been found high up in a tree. James' legs had been slung over his broomstick, hovering two feet off the ground, the rest of him sprawled out in the dirt. Peter had had his head under a rosebush.

Remus turned to look at Sirius, one eyebrow crooked, a little smile on his face. "Something you wanna tell me?"

Sirius looked embarrassed. His face was flushed and he wouldn't meet Remus' eyes. The latter boy was quite enjoying the role reversal.

Remus looked at the wardrobe again, studying the photos. There were only a few of the boys when they were very young, though they'd been thick as thieves (sometimes literally) since first year. Remus noted that the pictures of himself all seemed to be from about fourth year onwards.

"Sirius..." Remus said in a teasing voice. "Why didn't you kiss me two years ago?"

Sirius blushed. _How endearing_, Remus thought and put his two arms around the brunet. "I love you," he whispered.

Sirius hugged him back and when he spoke Remus could hear the smile in his voice. "Love you, too."

Remus snuggled his head into Sirius' shoulder. "I'm really tired," he said. "What happened to that plan of curling up in bed together?"

Sirius led Remus over to the bed, pulling back the electric blue duvet to expose burnt orange silk sheets. Remus gave Sirius a pained look. "Don't do anything by halves, will you?"

Sirius pouted, stripping off his jacket and tossing it into a chair by a window. With some amount of difficulty he peeled his jeans off, replying, "Nothing wrong with silk. It's warm and slide-y."

Remus rolled his eyes, before letting them trail hungrily over Sirius as the older boy's t-shirt joined the other garments in the chair. "I meant the colour."

Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise, looking around his room. It seemed as if he'd never noticed the clash. "You don't like it?"

Remus smiled. "It's not that, Sirius," Remus shuddered as the boy started to undress him, sliding his trench coat off and hugging him. "It's very you..." he paused as Sirius' hands tickled an icy path up his back before pulling his t-shirt off. Remus sucked in a breath as Sirius' fingers next landed on his fly buttons. "But it's very ... bright," Remus finally managed to choke out as Sirius tugged at his flares, kneeling on the floor in front of him to get a better grip.

Sirius grinned wolfishly up at him. "While I'm down here?"

Remus stepped out of the pool of corduroy collected around his ankles and knelt down with Sirius. "Incorrigible beast," he said with a smile. "Sleep first."

"You're no fun," Sirius said, but he was grinning. The boys slid into the bed, curling up close together. The last thing Remus saw before closing his eyes was the snow falling outside the window and Sirius' smiling at him.

Remus woke a couple of hours later feeling far better. He opened his eyes and saw snow on the window sills, and saw Sirius' silver eyes sparkling at him. The latter kissed him on the nose. "Good morning, moonshine," he whispered.

Remus kissed Sirius gently. "It's not morning."

"I know, but I love you."

"That's hardly related," Remus grinned.

Sirius kissed him back. "Who cares?" He kissed him again.

"Mhm," Remus murmured, smiling against Sirius' lips. He wrapped an arm around the other boy, running a hand across the smooth surface of his back. Sirius' skin was warm and soft. After the upheaval of his recent transformation it made him feel safe, cared for. Sirius' arm slipped around his waist, tugging their sleepy bodies together, deepening the kiss.

It was strange, Remus would think later, how kissing almost seems to have a life of its own. Odd that two people can start out with one innocent peck and before they know it, hands are roaming bodies, fingers twisting into hair and tickling maps across sensitised skin... Mouths abandon each other, choosing instead to taste the sweat of heated skin, to tease arousal out of the nerves hiding beneath goosebumps...

Remus experienced all of this with Sirius. Of course, he didn't think about it at the time. At the time, he was too busy _feeling_. Sirius at one moment was kissing him and in the next seemed to be all over him, crushing their bodies together, both of their hands racing across each other's bodies in some crazy, erotic relay. Remus felt Sirius shudder when he slipped a hand inside his boxer shorts. The older boy growled and knocked his hips (painfully!) against Remus in a minute moment of lost control. Remus smiled cheekily as Sirius pressed their mouths together again. He began to twist his hand, encouraged by the reaction he got.

Before too long, the final shreds of their clothing had been tossed to the floor and they were lying, wrapped together, in a drowsy embrace. Their faces wore matching silly grins. Sirius sighed deeply. "Wow," he murmured, burying his face in Remus' hair.

"Yeah," Remus agreed, stroking Sirius' back lazily.

Sirius kissed his neck gently. "I almost need another nap. Why have we waited so long to do that?"

Remus shrugged, turning his smiling face so he could kiss Sirius on the mouth. "It's only been a couple of weeks. Anyway, it felt right, not forced. Not planned. Was good," he said, kissing softly again.

"Well, it certainly made a nice Christmas present," Sirius said, cuddling, giving Remus a squeeze.

"Well, then, merry Christmas."

* * *

><p>After that, the nights apart became even harder. Finally, the thirtieth arrived and Sirius came over to pick Remus up.<p>

"Oho, no you don't," Sirius grinned, grasping Remus by the wrists and holding his hands up high as the werewolf attempted to kiss him. "This is the last day we have to go and get you an outfit for the concert, and I am not going to let you distract me anymore! I don't care how hard you try to seduce me, I will not succumb to your sensual ministrations. My dear gentleman, we are going shopping."

Remus wrenched his wrists out of Sirius' grip and grabbed the dark-haired boy around the neck, pulling him closer and kissing him fiercely. Sirius put up a token resistance before allowing Remus to drag him up the stairs and into bed.

Afterwards, Sirius sighed and turned his messy-haired head to face Remus. Remus smiled at him sleepily from the pillow, tracing light circles over Sirius' chest with his fingertips.

Sirius smiled back and kissed him, deeply and quick, then sprang out of the bed and started to tug his jeans on. "Bad man, you. Distracting me, not good."

"Worth it though, wasn't it?" Remus asked, dragging himself out of the bed also, walking naked across the room to wrap his arms around Sirius. He hugged him, holding him tight and breathing in his warm smell. He felt Sirius kiss his forehead.

"Yes."

Remus smiled, squeezing Sirius. "Are we going shopping now?" Remus asked, reservedly.

"You bet! And about time. Do you know how long it could take us to find you something appropriate?"

Remus said, "Unh." He watched Sirius' face fall into a mock scowl as he tugged his Lou Reed t-shirt over his head.

The boys soon plonked their way down the stairs and Remus locked the front door with a key. "Where're your olds?" Sirius asked as they wandered down toward the road and headed for the Underground.

"At a brunch with my Uncle Rome." Remus took Sirius' hand as they walked and twirled their fingers together.

Before too long that hand-hold had turned into a nervous death grip as Remus was dragged into a fashionable clothing store in London.

"This is my favourite shop," Sirius said, beaming. Remus already wore flares and satin shirts, but this store was something else. Clothes were separated first into colours and then into styles. Each colour section had a name. Sirius led Remus to the "Rocket Man" section, which was filled with silver and grey attire: pewter velvet blazers, grey, glittery jean flares, t-shirts covered in silver sequins...

Remus thought the whole idea was nonsense, really, and he was only doing it to keep Sirius happy. It seemed to be working: Sirius was cheerily muttering to himself, rummaging through items and sizes and tossing innumerable articles of clothing over his arm and shoulders.

Eventually, Remus spoke up. "Sirius..."

"Mm?" the boy wasn't listening as he stretched towards something at the end of a rack, trying not to lose the precarious stack of clothes strewn about his person.

"I am not trying all of that on."

Sirius straightened up and turned to Remus, his face confused and crestfallen. "What d'you mean?"

"Well, Sirius," Remus said, stepping over to where his boyfriend stood, "You are definitely the girlier of the two of us, never minding what you so eloquently call my 'moonstrual' cycle, and while fashion may excite you, it bores me and, yes, I find it slightly daunting. So, just pick out one thing and I will try it on and if I like it, well, that'll be that."

Sirius looked down at his armload. "You take all the fun out of things, Moony."

Remus smiled and hooked a finger under Sirius' chin, lifting his face and kissing him sweetly. "No I don't. I just want it to be easy."

Sirius pouted, but it was without any real emotion. "Fine," he agreed and started to place items back on their racks. "But you'll have to try at least a few different things, 'cause I don't want to be seen standing next to someone who hasn't put together a proper outfit."

Remus rolled his eyes and agreed. His first trip to the changing cubicle saw him loaded down with eight items – four outfits minus accessories.

Remus quickly went through them, sighing and rolling his eyes and tossing most items on the 'discard' pile. When he exited, Sirius was standing outside with another armload. And then another. Remus rolled his eyes. "Sirius, I thought we agreed fashion was _your_ interest!"

"One more lot and that'll be it," Sirius promised, winking and sashaying across the store to the blue "Windy and Wild" section.

Remus obligingly sorted through all of Sirius' procurements and when he was finally done had a total of four shirts and two flares picked out. When Remus showed them to Sirius, the older boy agilely snaked his body through the door of the cubicle and locked it behind him. "Show me then," he said, leaning back against the door, hands on hips, smirk on lips.

Remus eyed him, blank faced, his brain flickering through all sorts of naughty ideas that, if acted upon, would more than likely get them thrown out of the store. Still, as he unbuttoned his flares he couldn't stop the blush that bloomed across his cheeks.

Sirius grinned and spoke, clearly misinterpreting the colour rising in the werewolf's face. "Remus... I find your modesty very refreshing. Imagine you: dragging me up the stairs and into bed and screwing me senseless," here Remus kicked him in the shin, "but blushing when I ask you to change your clothes in front of me."

"You're an idiot."

Remus shimmied in and out of the various costumes Sirius had devised for him, until the latter held up two items Remus hadn't yet tried.

"Put these on."

Remus eyes the objects, dubious. "Sirius, there's a reason I didn't try them on." he pointed a finger at the flares Sirius was trying to hand to him.

"And why is that?"

"Because it's ... I ... I don't think... I don't want to."

"Oh Remus, don't be so bloody soft. Trust me. Put them on."

Remus scowled fiercely, but begrudgingly took the trousers and stepped into them, rolling and tugging the legs until they were plastered to his skin. "Gah..." Remus complained, "Sirius I cannot move in these!"

"Uhm," Sirius said, and when Remus turned to look at him, his eyes were wide as saucers and his lips were parted. "But they look amazing."

Remus scowled even deeper. Sirius smiled gently at him, and stepped over, pulling him into a hug. Remus relented, pressing his cheek into the cool press of Sirius' hair. He felt Sirius' hands rubbing his back, then sneaking down to feel his arse through the second-skin leather flares he had conned Remus into trying on. "Darling," Sirius was whispering into his ear. "You have to wear these. They are simply gorgeous and you are absolutely nazz in them."

Remus pulled away a little, smirking unhappily. He turned to look in the mirror, frowning at how difficult moving seemed to be in leather. And yet, when he looked at himself he couldn't help but agree – they were devilishly sexy.

Sirius handed him the emerald green shirt he had been holding as well. Remus pulled it on and turned to look again. "No," he said, slipping out of the garment again. "Green is not my colour. Give this one to Jim, he'll appreciate it."

Remus turned, finding he was already getting a knack for moving in the flares. He rifled through the pile of discarded clothing until he found one shirt he had liked at the start. He shrugged into it, feeling very aware of Sirius' eyes staring at his pale skin, at the bite scar on his arm. Sirius had not given him any tops to try on without sleeves. Remus was very shy of his mark, the constant physical reminder of what he was.

The shirt Remus had picked out was silk, black with wide cuffs, lapels and collar, all crimson red. It was a fitted cut, a little long in the back and loose over the hips, buttons reaching only to the navel, showing off a stretch of firm, white, belly.

"Ooh, yes," Sirius said, sidling closer again, wrapping one arm around Remus' waist and standing beside him, looking together into the mirror. "Darling, that is gorgeous. Who said I couldn't make a Glammer out of you?"

"No one did, Sirius. Are we done now?"

"Hey, don't ruin the moment. You can't say this wasn't totally worth it."

Remus couldn't say that. Looking into the mirror he had to admit the Glam rock look was working for him, at least for the moment – wide, silver, leather flares, black and red silk shirt... The problem was, Remus knew this was only the beginning. Sirius would want to _accessorise_ next.

He did. They ended up staying until Remus also had a pair of scarlet platform boots and a silver chain sporting a 'peace' symbol. Sirius tossed a kohl pencil and a pot of silver highlighter on top of the pile and then the boys were, _finally,_ to Remus great relief, done.

"What about you? What're you wearing tomorrow night?" Remus queried.

Sirius said, "I bought my outfit last week, after full moon, when you were resting. I knew you wouldn't want to be out as long as it would take for me to buy something."

Remus lifted one eyebrow as they strolled towards the chocolate cafe they had visited after getting off the school train, shopping bags shared between them, hands linked lazily. "How long did it take?"

"Four hours."

"_What_?" Remus was flabbergasted. "And people think that I'm the girliest Marauder."

"Well, I wasn't just in one store!" Sirius said indignantly.

"That's worse!" Remus cried good-naturedly. He turned to Sirius and kissed him, gently, dropping his bags between his feet and using that hand to stroke Sirius' hair. "Good thing I love you, warts and all, huh?" Kiss.

"Warts?" Sirius tried to yelp, but the word came out half muffled by Remus' lips. The protest died as the kiss deepened, shopping forgotten, hot chocolate forgotten, busy Londoners milling around them, all forgotten. There was only each other, warm mouths and hands _everywhere_, sweet closeness and long, fashionable hair getting in the way. That hair got into Remus' nose, and he pulled back suddenly and sneezed. Sirius looked disgusted, though Remus wasn't sure if that was because strands of his precious hair were splattered with spittle or because Remus had interrupted the snogging.

It must have been the latter, because Sirius took a step closer to Remus, slipping a hand under Remus' trench coat, under his t-shirt, around his waist. Remus tensed and shuddered, squealing as a freezing hand pressed into the small of his back as Sirius urged their bodies together. Warm lips found each other again, Sirius' fingers beginning their familiar tickling strum against Remus' back.

Someone in the street wolf-whistled. Remus felt Sirius grin against his mouth before breaking the kiss and calling out, "You're welcome!"

Remus chuckled a little, but felt blood come into his cheeks that had nothing to do with his proximity to Sirius. "Come on," he said, embarrassed. "Let's go get that chocolate."

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><p>AN: Well, I hope you all enjoyed it! I will not be making anything in this story explicit, so tough luck if that's your thing; since I'm female I really have no idea what two men would get up to in bed. ;) Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Yay, I have it up in a month! Was hoping to have it sooner, but never mind. Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers, you have made writing this story so much more worthwhile. I hope you continue to review! Thanks so much.

Disclaimer: Okay, same as before, but also: I do not personally know David Bowie and have not been to a concert so the representation of him in this chapter is entirely fictional. The only thing that isn't fictional about him in this, in fact, is his appearance. ;)

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><p><span>Chapter 4<span>

The day of the thirty-first of December dawned bright and cold, early morning sun glimmering on the snowy landscape. Remus opened his eyes, closed them, sighed and shifted. He felt Sirius roll over beside him; an arm came about his body and his face was peppered with kisses. Remus wrinkled his nose, smiling. Sirius' lips came down Remus' jawbone and met his mouth. The kiss was warm and deep, long, sweet and hungry.

Sirius pulled back first, sucking a deep breath in. He smiled at Remus and said, "Good morning moonshine."

Remus replied, "Good morning ... starshine."

They both beamed. Suddenly, there came a horrific rapping at the front door, the banging increasing in volume. "The earth says hello," Remus muttered, pulling the blankets up over his head and kneeing Sirius.

The boy took the hint, sighing and dragging himself out of the cosy bed. Remus snuggled into the mattress, delighting in the softness of the silk sheets, the warmth of the space Sirius had vacated. He heard his boyfriend padding across the room, heard a window grate open. Heard Sirius bellow, "Oy! Just come in already!"

Remus yelped a moment later as Sirius leapt back into the bed, diving underneath the blankets. "Argh! Your feet are cold!" Remus whined, trying to shift away as Sirius giggled and tried to plant his feet on Remus.

A few moments later they could hear footsteps thundering up the stairs. They passed the bedroom and continued down the landing. Sirius sighed again, stopping kicking and pulling Remus into a hug. "Here we are, our first morning together in _ages_ and we can't spend it in bed!"

"Never mind," Remus said ruefully, rubbing his eyes. He smiled at Sirius in the gloomy dark created by the sheets, leaned forward and kissed him gently. Sirius returned the kiss, bringing one hand up and wrapping it in Remus' hair. Remus curled a leg up over the brunet's hip.

"Mmm," Sirius murmured against his lips, shifting slightly under Remus' leg, pressing their pelvises delightfully together.

"Mmm," Remus agreed, his hand on Sirius' cheek, sucking the older boy's lip into his mouth, tracing the curve of that lip with his tongue. Sirius began to breathe deeper, wriggling his body closer to Remus. His hand clenched tighter in Remus' hair.

For a few more moments the boys were preoccupied with each other; then there came another volley of knocking, this time coming up and down the wall. It was accompanied by male-sounding shouting: "Come on, get up you lazy fuckers!"

Sirius groaned and pulled out of the embrace. He scowled at Remus, "Bloody rude buggers," then leapt out of the bed again, dragged the duvet with him to cover his hips and charged over to the door. He threw it open with a flourish, and roared into the hallway, "We are _not_ lazy fuckers! We're very energetic fuckers! _And_ thanks to you, we're not even fucking now!"

Remus grimaced and was glad he still had the sheet over his head. He could hear Claudia laughing.

"Okay, okay, keep your hair on!" that was Peter's voice, somewhere between amused and appalled.

"Freak out, Sirius." James this time – he sounded purely amused. "Go put some clothes on, would you?"

"No!" Sirius cried. "It's my house and if I want to parade around naked I will! If I want to-"

"Sirius, shut up," Remus called, finding himself starting to feel the chill of the morning now that his _amour_ and the rugs were both gone from the bed. He peeped out from under the orange sheet – no one but Sirius was in the room. He slithered out of the bed and crossed to where his clothes were slung over a chair. Tugging on his boxers and jeans, Sirius slammed the bedroom door behind him. Remus turned as he buttoned his fly, smiling as his boyfriend dropped the blanket and came over to him. The naked boy wrapped his arms around Remus' shivering frame, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"What a shame," he murmured, running his hand down the front of Remus' jeans. Sirius smiled at him, hugging him tight for a moment before peeling himself away and swinging open the wardrobe.

Without any more distractions the boys were soon dressed and merged down the hallway to Sirius' sitting room. Peter, Claudia and James had settled in there. One of them had lit a fire in the grate and the room was warming nicely. There was a bag on the table and a cardboard carrier with two paper cups in.

James was thrown into Sirius' favourite armchair, the one the Marauders always saw him sitting in when they visited. James was sipping from his own cup and flipping through a Quidditch magazine, his feet resting on a yellow Labrador.

Peter and Claudia were side by side on a couch, two more dogs curled up on the empty spaces next to them.

"'Bout time you got up," James grumbled, but he was grinning widely and stood, giving both boys a hug. He flopped himself down next to Claudia, forcing the dogs to move. "Dish up breakfast, Claud."

She frowned at him as Sirius and Remus sat down as well. "Why?" she asked. "Because I'm the girl?"

James smiled indulgently. "No, sweet, you're the closest."

The group had bought coffee and bagels and croissants for breakfast; Claudia shared them out, passing around plates she had taken from the kitchen on their way in. The group set to catching up, enjoying sharing their holiday stories, playing card games, laughing and joking. The day whittled away and suddenly Claudia said, "Well, I'd better go."

"Huh?" James looked very confused, the other three shared a knowing look. Claudia didn't play coy.

"I'm going to meet Lily," she explained. "She's coming with us and she doesn't know how to get here."

Claudia left to collect her read-haired friend and James looked around at the others. His gaze was shrewd, and, Remus thought, rather accusing. He scowled at the look of schooled innocence on each boy's face. "Right, nastys. Explain."

"What's to explain?" Sirius began, eyes glittering, his voice a shade higher than usual.

"It's very simple, Jim," Remus explained, nudging Sirius surreptitiously. "Claudia and Lily are friends; Lily's a fan of Brian Slade and didn't want to go to the concert alone, so ... Claudia invited her."

James still looked suspicious. "Really," he deadpanned.

"Jim-bo!" Sirius cried. "If you can't trust your best friends, who can you?"

"Don't call me Jim-bo. And I _know_ I can't trust you guys."

It was sometime before Claudia and Lily returned. There was a cursory hello and then Sirius showed the girls to the room Lily would be staying in that night and where they promptly began to ready themselves for the concert.

"Already?" James asked, stunned, when Sirius returned to the sitting room. Peter answered.

"It'll take Claudia at least an hour and a half to _feel_ ready. If she's helping Lily it'll take at least half that time again."

"What time _is_ it?" Sirius asked. It was almost five o'clock. The concert was to begin at seven thirty. Sirius relaxed a little, but Remus could see he was jumpy about getting organised.

The boys ordered in pizza and stole a bottle of Firewhisky from Sirius' father's liquor cupboard. They fed the Labradors and let them into the tiny backyard. Sirius showed Peter to his and Claudia's room, the same one they always shared when they stayed, and showed James to the room that he had used to share with Remus, a room he now had to himself.

Finally, Remus and Sirius adjourned to the latter's bedroom, to dress for the concert. Remus tried to avoid putting on his leather trousers until the last minute – he had bought them, in the end, a size big, but he was still apprehensive about spending a night in them.

Sirius lit a fire in the bedroom grate, and Remus was grateful as he sat in his silk shirt and boxers, watching Sirius dress. The older boy started with his makeup, which, Remus was amused to note, took close to an hour to complete. The finished look was very good – _almost_ worth it – sharply contoured cheekbones, glossed lips, glittery highlighter, lashings and lashings of mascara and black eyeliner and amethyst eye shadow.

"Your turn!" Sirius said excitedly, turning away from the mirror.

"Uh... no, Sirius, we never agreed to that." Remus eyed him warily.

"Just a little," Sirius encouraged. "Just to make you blend in."

Remus knew better than to argue with Sirius on a point like this. With a world weary sigh he leant back against the headboard and allowed Sirius to _bugger_ (Remus' word choice, _not_ Sirius') around with his face. It didn't take nearly as long as Sirius had spent on himself, but still far too long for Remus' liking, and some of the beauty aids Sirius utilised looked more like ancient torture implements.

When he was finally done, Sirius passed Remus a handheld mirror. Remus gave him a wry look, before glancing into the reflective surface. Though he would never admit it to the brunet, he was impressed. His eyes looked beautiful, hauntingly outlined, lashes curled and coated in mascara. It all itched his eyes a little. His cheekbones had been highlighted and glimmered with silver sparkle, the same along the bridge of his nose and in the curve of his top lip.

"Baby, you are surely gorgeous. Far out gorgeous," Sirius said, smiling sweetly and leaning close to steal a kiss, soft lips joining gently together.

The moment was perfect – the kind of moment one would choose to live in forever ... given the choice. Remus returned the kiss, pressing his lips back against Sirius', one hand snaking around the boy's neck.

A perfect moment – until Sirius jerked back with a cry. "Argh! My lip gloss!" he rushed over to his wall mirror, inspecting the damage, muttering as he wiped the smears of gloss from around his mouth and reapplied. It was, Remus thought, a perfect _Sirius_ moment. He licked his lips, feeling the slime of the gloss on his own pout. It was cherry flavoured. _Not bad_, Remus thought. _I could get used to that_.

He reclined on the bed again, watching as Sirius dressed, curious to see the outfit that had taken four hours and multiple stores to pick out. Sirius tugged on a pair of blue jeans in a wash so dark they at first glance seemed black. He popped his feet into a pair of patent black platform boots, with a stripe of purple glitter tracing the line where the sole and shoe met. Sirius tottered around the room, brushing his hair and swinging his arse in Remus' face.

"Sirius," Remus said eventually, eyes glued to his boyfriend's backside, very well displayed in the skin-tight denim. "Stop swaying like that and get dressed."

Sirius tossed him a coy look and grinned, clearly delighted with himself. "I just thought you'd want to comment on my new jeans," he said innocently.

Remus rolled his eyes. "In fact, I do. I can't _believe_ you wasted four hours of your life shopping for jeans. Now stop shaking your arse at me or I'm gonna tear those jeans off you and do more than just mess up your makeup."

"Promise?" Sirius grinned wider, and Remus found himself returning it, his irritation dissolving. Sirius came over to him, brushed hair shining in the firelight, and pressed a very gentle kiss to his forehead. "Later tonight, okay?"

"Okay," Remus said, smiling, running one hand carefully through Sirius' hair, pressing a kiss to the palm of his hand. Sirius smiled back then stroked his hand over Remus' hair before crossing the room again to finish dressing. Remus watched, content.

Sirius shrugged his toned shoulders into a grape coloured silk and wool vest. There were three buttons, leaving a tiny triangle of toned flesh visible between the hem and the waistband of his flares. His taut chest gleamed bare in the firelight. Remus tried to remain nonchalant, but he couldn't deny his lover looked devastating.

Sirius came back over to the bed, sitting down beside Remus and flinging a leg over his lap. He looped one long finger into the waistband of Remus' boxers and plucked the elastic. "Ooh. Sexy. Better get dressed, yourself, love."

Remus shivered lightly, eyes stuck on Sirius, half sprawled across him, fingers tucked into his shorts. Sirius was leaning closer, pushing him down on the bed; he planted a delicate kiss on Remus' belly. "Mm," the brunet hummed against his skin. "You smell good."

Remus sucked in a shaky breath. "Okay, lover-boy. Stop teasing me."

Sirius smiled, but his eyes held a desperate yearning. He clambered up Remus' body and hugged him tightly. "If it weren't for this make up I'd be all over you."

Remus hugged him back. "You already are!" he kissed Sirius' neck. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Sirius said. Remus could hear the smile in his voice. "C'mon. Get dressed. We don't wanna be late or we won't get the best standing room."

Remus sighed and dragged himself off the bed, yanking the leather trousers on. He did the buttons up with little difficulty – the extra size gave him room to manoeuvre and made the trousers hang low on his gaunt hips, extending the bare stretch of skin on show.

"Sexy, very sexy." Sirius slid off the bed to sit on the floor beside Remus' feet, grabbing the red boots and helping Remus put them on. "Can't wait 'til later on."

"Well, you're gonna have to," Remus said, smiling down good naturedly, and resisting the urge to ruffle Sirius' hair.

Finally ready, the boys stood and made to meet the others. Remus reached for his trench coat as they passed the coat hooks, but Sirius stopped him. "No," he said, "that thing is not fashionable and I cannot be seen with you wearing it."

Remus stared, flabbergasted. "Sirius, it's freezing out there! It was snowing this morning!"

Sirius put a hand on his hip and gave Remus a terribly patient look. "Yes. But it will be hot, hot, hot at the concert. And fashion is more important than comfort anyway. _Plus_, you have me to cuddle!"

"Yes, but we have to line up outside in the cold. I don't want to be cold."

"Ooh, sook. They won't have anywhere to hang coats in the hall, and you won't want to wear it all night. We can get a cab home and that'll have heating. You'll manage."

Remus grumbled under his breath and hit Sirius' exposed bicep, but followed the boy out of the bedroom and down the hallway.

Peter and James were lounging in the sitting room. Peter was fiddling with the wireless, trying to find the muggle stations with preconcert announcements on. James was sprawled on his back across a couch, flopping heavy platform-booted feet up and down. The girls were nowhere to be seen.

Sirius crossed the room to James and stood peering down at his friend critically, hands on hips. Remus was curious and went over as well; he found Sirius was appraising James' outfit: a royal blue satin shirt with a wide collar, matching blue shoes and black flare jeans. "Acceptable," was Sirius' lofty pronouncement.

Next he studied Peter, who was dressed in orange cords and a red Bowie shirt, dots of red glitter dabbed along his cheeks. "Acceptable," Sirius repeated, slipping an arm around Remus' waist. "But we scrub up much better."

"Shut up!" James cried, and threw a magazine at him. Sirius ducked, and the magazine brushed over the top of his head and smacked Peter in the shoulder.

Sirius let out an almighty cry, howling at the top of his lungs as he passed his hands gingerly across his scalp. "You most hideous fiend! You have befouled my flawless coiffure!"

"Good," James said and grinned, swinging his feet again.

Sirius stalked across the room, giving James the finger, and out into the hallway. There was a mirror there, and Remus rolled his eyes and sat down on the floor (with difficulty) near James as Sirius began to wail again. The yowling came to an abrupt end and Claudia's voice came into the room. "Get over yourself, princess."

Claudia herself then entered, wearing a corduroy shirt dress, very short over her curvy thighs, in a colour to match Peter's flares. Her brown platform shoes had sunflowers on the ankle straps and her hair was loopy and free, tumbling down her back, pinned behind her ears.

Lily was with her, looking shy but happy in her low-slung, wide legged jeans and yellow patterned shirt. The shirt was unbuttoned beneath her bra-line and knotted around her waist, baring white flesh adorned with a glittery, swirly floral pattern. Remus flicked his eyebrows, impressed. James was staring, head sideways on the couch cushion, mouth open, eyes glued to Lily's navel.

Sirius came back in, head and shoulders above the girls, hair once more perfectly groomed. "Good." He said, "Let's go."

The gang let Sirius' pet Labradors back into the house and then went into the street to hail a taxi, which was no mean feat – cabs were booked out with young Glammers who were all obsessed with celebrating the New Year with David Bowie.

By the time the group found a cab Remus was feeling somewhat like an icicle. Slushy snow was clinging to soles of his boots and Sirius was clinging to rest of him, complaining. Remus dug his knuckles into his boyfriend's ribs and growled at him to shut up.

The taxi ride was a brief, blessed respite from the bitterness of the winter evening, but before too long they were all out in the frigid air again, lined up in a queue of excited, bright and denim clad bodies. Sirius used his (debatably) considerable charm to worm a few places up the line.

Remus' teeth were chattering and his fingers had gone a deep purple-red by the time they reached the doorman and handed their tickets over. Sirius was at the lead, grinning manically, grasping Remus' hand and dragging him through the throng of fans to reach the stage front. Remus hurriedly grabbed James, who was behind him, and the six teens made a chain so as not to get separated as Sirius hauled them across the concert hall.

They reached the stage front, pushing other thronging fans aside to take positions along the rope that had been strung up to keep the audience from grabbing the trailing ends of the rock stars' flares.

The noise was almost unbearable, instruments being tuned and tested, fans chattering in a deafening hum. As the hall began to fill it became humid and stuffy. Sirius wrapped an arm around Remus and kissed him on the cheek. Remus turned to face him, smiling, and clutching the rope as fans behind him buffeted him.

James suddenly stumbled into Remus, hitting him heavily in the side as other people tried to wedge their way towards the stage. "Keep a tight hold on the rope," Sirius yelled to the group over the din.

The hall was quickly swamped with bodies and the temperature crept a little higher. Remus began to feel tacky under his leather trousers and glad he had left his coat at home. The change from the freezing night air was making him a little dizzy; Sirius' arm wrapped tight about him was helping to keep him from toppling off his platforms.

The room got hotter and the wait drew on. And on. Sound checks stopped and people kept entering the concert hall. Finally, eventually, _thank god_, Remus thought, the doors to the concert hall banged shut and big industrial ceiling fans began to work.

Shadows ran back and forth across the stage. Remus watched them mildly, enjoying the feel of the circulating air. Peter and Claudia were talking a little way down the rope, James was tapping his foot and throwing glances at Lily, the latter of whom was looking awkward and excited.

Lights suddenly flared in burning illumination. A man in precariously heeled boots stomped across the stage. He sauntered up to the microphone, tapped it once, spat on it and then hollered.

"Argh!" Remus yelped, throwing one hand over an ear (the other arm was around Sirius' waist, thumb looped tightly into a belt hook). The man began to bellow an introduction, using language so flowery it was an admirable rival for Sirius' histrionics.

Remus turned to look at his lover. Sirius was beaming up at the man on the stage, his face glowing with excitement and anticipation. Remus smiled, kissing Sirius gently on the cheek then turning to look at his friends. They all wore expressions mirroring Sirius' to various degrees.

Remus felt that excitement begin to echo in himself as he took in the scene. The man on the stage prattled away as Remus glanced around the hall. Nearby was a group of four girls, all holding hands and cheering. Not far from them a larger, mixed group, were laughing and swaying and poking each other in the sides, and passing around a joint.

Finally the man on stage stopped talking with a screamed announcement: "I present _Brian Slade_!"

Music began to play, drifting through the hall with deafening bass and sharp electric notes. A tall, lean man stalked onto the stage in glitter platforms and blue leather flares, his white shirt skin tight around the waist and unbuttoned from the ribs up. A glittering green pin sparkled from his lapel. His face was adorned in full makeup, looking glittery and gorgeous. The crowd was roaring, squeals and whistles rose above the din.

Coloured lights burst towards the back of the stage, picking out the band. As Brian reached the microphone he spoke. His voice was low, sultry, his accent lending an extra sexiness to it.

Remus felt suddenly a little awe. The excitement everyone else had been feeling suddenly hit him in full force. Brian Slade was standing not five metres from him, shifting his weight from foot to foot causing his hips to sway. Sexy, sexy man. Remus felt himself let out a bawl.

Sirius hugged him tightly, and grinned, kissing him quickly before turning back to the stage as Brian began to sing. Remus was glad the group had listened to some of his records so they knew the music.

It had a different feel live. The bass was stronger, the riffs less structured, the lyric flowing smoother. The crowd was dancing, singing, cheering. Brian was singing '2HB'.

The music beat through Remus' body; he could feel it vibrating through every part of him. Sirius held him tightly and they moved together to the music, not dancing in a true sense, but Remus couldn't think of another name for it. Remus felt acutely, blissfully happy, with the song pounding and Sirius' warmth around him.

As Brian worked his way through his hour's worth of songs, Remus kept stealing glances at James and Lily, and he noticed Sirius and Claudia doing the same. Peter seemed to be in a little world of his own, just taking in the music without really seeming to be aware of the musician, or his friends and their plan of match making.

James and Lily weren't exactly playing along with that plan. Lily had moved closer to Claudia and seemed to be a little self conscious, not dancing much at all. James was clearly ogling her, but otherwise seemed oblivious.

About a half an hour in, while Brian was singing 'Sebastian', Remus caught Claudia's eye. She was saying something to him, but even with the quieter song Remus couldn't hope to hear her. She shrugged off Peter and came over to the two boys.

"It's not working!" Claudia yelled in their ears, jabbing one hand over her shoulder to indicate Lily and James. She lit a cigarette, began singing along with Brian, and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Sirius nodded sagely. "We'll have to try and push them closer together."

The group did so, slowly shuffling about as they danced, trying to wedge James and Lily so close that they were practically touching. So close so that James would not be able to resist asking Lily to dance. They were sure it would work.

It didn't. Lily was too shy and James was too gentlemanly and Brian sang 'Hot One' and nothing happened.

Then the worst happened. Brian's opening show came to an end and he hadn't sung 'Ladytron', the one song Claudia had been sure he would sing, the song she was sure Lily and James wouldn't be able to resist.

"I'm going to finish up by saying thank you to David for allowing me to perform with him. His success is my success so I wish him all the best tonight. Make sure you guys all buy lots of albums and scream really loudly so we know you love us. And to entice you, here is a song from my new and upcoming album, with my new American partner: I introduce to you, _Curt Wild_."

A well built man with scruffy dark hair, and dressed all in black leather – flares, unbuttoned greaser vest and dog-collar – slouched his way onto the stage, hips rolling lazily. Remus was enraptured by Brian's voice, lazy and sexy and so different from the way it sounded when he sang.

The band began to play again, the song a sweet sort of love ballad, catchy and slow. Sirius began to sway next to Remus, arms wrapped around the werewolf's waist, moving in time to the music. Sirius picked up the beat and began to sing along with Curt: "Bom bom bom, satellite of love... mm, Moony, you're my satellite of love," the boy crooned in his ear.

_Mm, indeed_, Remus thought, staring up at the American, Curt, and his bare, broad shoulders. There was something desperately sexy in the grungy, white trash, muscle-y musician. Remus didn't want to take his eyes off him, off of those hands strumming a guitar, off of those lips singing.

"Hey!" Remus felt a sharp jab in his ribs and the warmth of Sirius' body peeled away from him. "Are you checking him out?" Sirius sounded half incredulous, half amused.

"Yeah," Remus said and smiled, tearing his eyes away for a minute to look at Sirius. "But he's got nothing on you, sweet."

Sirius smiled back at him, kissing him chastely on the mouth. "Look all you want, Remmie. Just keep your thoughts pure."

Remus laughed and turned back to the stage.

A few minutes later Brian and Curt finished playing, waltzed off the stage and the lights dropped again as roadies began setting up for the Main Attraction.

The alcohol came out – a table bar in each back corner of the hall began selling bottles and Peter and Claudia went to bring a round back to the group. There was a half an hour interim and the gang were able to get two beers down a piece, with third ones ready to open as the lights flooded the stage again.

"Booze is plan B," Remus said in Sirius' ear as they waited for the next introduction. "D'you think it'll work?"

"Sure it will," Sirius said back, flashing a winning smile.

The man in ridiculously fashionable platforms came back to introduce Bowie, and his greeting was even more enthusiastic and temperate than the one he had given the warm-up act.

And then Bowie was traipsing onto the stage, rocking and rolling over to the microphone and swinging the electric guitar that had been standing, lonely, in the centre of that stage up and over his body. He grinned widely at the audience, flashing his crooked teeth, and there was an enormous roar from the crowd. Remus reflexively threw his hands over his ears again, then joined in.

"Good to see you all!" Bowie cheered and the fans cheered back. "And happy New Year!" More hollering. "I'm gonna start off with a few older tracks."

Bowie began playing 'Space Oddity'.

From there on in the mood in the hall changed – this was what the fans had come for. The vibe was electric, the beer was flowing, Remus could smell reefer in the air and hear the giggles from people who were high.

Five songs in now, and Bowie launched into 'The Prettiest Star".

Remus felt a smile split his face as Bowie began to sing. He turned away from the stage to face Sirius, who was busy trying to balance bottle caps on the peaks of James' scruffy hair. Remus slid up to his boyfriend and wrapped both arms around his lean frame. "This song is about you," he said when Sirius returned the embrace. "_You_ are the prettiest star. You're the _only_ star. You have to dance with me to this song."

Sirius kissed him on the forehead. "You're so sexy when you cling, dearest," he said sarcastically, but his tone was nothing but endearing.

They were pressed close together, arms curled tightly. Remus was singing under his breath, one hand wrapped around the back of Sirius' head; the older boy was kissing him seductively on the neck. They were swaying to the music, and Remus was singing, "_How you move is all it takes to sing a song of when I loved... the Prettiest Star_," and Sirius shifted his head and kissed Remus on the mouth, the kind of kiss that is sweet and passionate and oh-so loving, and Remus stopped singing and kissed back, clutching Sirius' hip tightly and forcing their bodies close together as they danced.

The wonderfully sensual make-out was terribly, rudely interrupted as somebody tried shaking the boys apart. When that failed, the someone smacked Sirius upside the head, and the pair fell away from each other, stunned, Remus slapping one hand over his mouth with a small yelp – Sirius had bitten his tongue.

It was Peter and James, gesticulating excitedly. James leaned in close and yelled over the music, "Bowie has been staring at you guys for the whole song!"

Sirius frowned and looked disgruntled. Remus tried to think of a suitable way to nurse his wounded tongue. He could taste blood and Sirius' cherry lip gloss.

"And you had to interrupt us _why_?" Sirius said, only half unhappy. He turned back to Remus, noticed his hurt and kissed the werewolf sweetly and softly, gently sucking his injured tongue. Remus hummed along to the song as they kissed. "Mm," Sirius murmured, pulling back for a second. "That's nice."

Lost in each other, the boys danced and kissed their way through several songs without being very aware at all of their surroundings. Their friends left them alone until the next recess in the performance, when beers were passed around again and Claudia forced her way between the pair.

"We're supposed to be focussing on James and Lily!" she hissed. "You two are already together! Stop necking and help!"

"Can't help it," Sirius said petulantly, sliding an arm around Remus' shoulder.

"Well you'd better start helping it, 'cause you two are burning this place up on your own, everybody's watching you, including David! How d'you expect Lily and James to focus on falling in love if they're staring at you two!"

Sirius pouted. "A little sexual tension might force the issue."

But the boys decided to try and be on their best behaviour. Or at least, not their _worst_ behaviour.

It didn't matter, the damage had been done. Two beers later when Bowie came back on the stage, it was clear where his thoughts were – his eyes were glued to the two boys wrapped around each other in the front row, who were now watching him. He launched into 'John, I'm Only Dancing'.

Bowie was twirling his way across the stage, guitar discarded forlornly by the microphone stand, singing and swinging his hips.

Remus, slightly the taller of the two lovers, was standing behind Sirius, arms wrapped around the brunet's shoulders. Bowie sang "_I saw you watching from the stairs..._" and winked his broken eye in their direction.

Remus was slightly taken aback, and watched Bowie more closely – his gaze seemed to travel to the pair more often than it landed elsewhere in the audience, and when it did his dancing got a little sexier.

At the end of the song Remus leaned towards Sirius' ear and said, "Y'know, I think David Bowie is flirting with you!"

Sirius turned his head. "Really?" he began to laugh. "Well, it was you that drew his attention."

"Trust me, sweet, he's not batting his eyelashes at me!"

Sirius laughed more and turned his head a little further, pressing a warm kiss to Remus' yielding mouth.

Bowie stalked back across the stage and swung his guitar over his shoulder again. "Right. Now it's time to introduce you all to someone you've been waiting to meet: make some noise for Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars!"

Lights flickered across the stage, picking out each individual member of Bowie's band in their elaborate costume, before flicking back to the main man himself, who with a simple change of expression and stance had gone from a fashionable, coloured-haired glam rocker to a far-out, trend-setting Rock and Roll Star.

Bowie began to sing 'Five Years', his voice sounding soulful and sad. Sirius turned his back to the stage and folded Remus in his arms, dancing slowly with him, chin tucked into the bony hollow of Remus' clavicle.

"_I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour_," Bowie moaned...

"He's looking at you again," Remus said, eyes glued to Bowie's face as the singer openly watched them.

"Heh. Well he never saw _me_ in an ice-cream parlour. Maybe a chocolate shop," Sirius replied, voice muffled against Remus' hair.

"_Smiling and waving and looking so fine! Don't think you knew you were in this song..._"

"You're loving the attention, really, aren't you?" Remus said, smiling, amused by the whole situation.

"How dare you say such a thing? Moony, you know you are the only man for me!"

Remus laughed.

The concert continued in much the same way – Remus and Sirius danced and flirted together, sometimes slow sometimes not. Bowie continued to throw lustful glances their way, shaking his hips provocatively whenever Sirius was watching, direcing certain lyrics at them. He made his way through the songs from the _Ziggy Stardust_ album.

During 'Starman' Claudia approached the pair again.

"Claudia!" Sirius snapped. "Don't you know this song is about me? I am, after all, Sirius the Starman."

"It may well be about you," Claudia said, ignoring Sirius' pomposity and throwing a sidelong look at the performer on the stage, "but this is more important – _anything not_ about you is more important."

Sirius looked terribly affronted and opened his mouth to launch into a tirade, but Remus clapped a hand over his mouth. "Be quiet, Sirius," he said fondly. "And don't worry about your lip gloss, I've kissed it all off anyway. What's wrong Claud?"

She frowned, her orange-painted lips curling up. "James and Lily still won't dance together. I don't understand it, they've both had plenty of beer and it's not like either of them are usually shy... I don't see what we're missing!"

The boys surveyed the situation: Lily was dancing to the song, both hands holding onto the rope in front of the stage. James stood behind her, watching the bare skin of her back as she moved, just far enough back so that they weren't actually touching, even though Remus and Sirius had been bumping into James with every twirl as they danced and Peters shoulder was touching Lily's.

Sirius snorted and the sound was lost to all but Remus' sensitive ears under the drums. "Clearly, they're enjoying the tease," Sirius said, a little grumpily. "She's waving her arse in his face and he loves the show."

The show got better as Bowie changed songs and the dancing became a little wilder with the heavier beat of 'It Ain't Easy'.

"Yes, but what if they don't go beyond the tease?" Claudia asked, aggravatedly brushing a lock of her hair out of her face. "I know Lily, she goes funny with guys she likes – she clams up and becomes difficult. If she wasn't interested in him they'd have had sex months ago."

"James is worried about rejection," Remus muttered. "He doesn't realise that she wants him. Yes!" Remus said quickly as he saw Claudia was about to interrupt him, "all guys are that dense."

"So what do we do next?" Claudia asked, glaring at James' back.

"Simple," Sirius said. "The ground work has been laid – the desire is there, the grog is working its magic. We just need to bump James so that he falls on her."

Remus and Claudia stared at him as the brunet nodded emphatically. "I'll do it myself," he said sagely.

He did. Claudia returned to Peter's side, her job: to try and push Lily into James' embrace once Sirius bumped the latter. Sirius began to dance again, grabbing Remus and clutching him tightly by his leather-clad hips, grinding their pelvises together in a way that was considerably redundant given their attire. Remus didn't mind, popping one of his own hands over Sirius' and leaning his head back to rest on the other's shoulder.

Suddenly, Sirius stepped forcefully forwards, as if tripping, and pushed Remus forward with him. Caught off guard, Remus threw his hands out as he stumbled. He ended up slamming heavily into James' back just as Bowie began to sing 'Lady Stardust'.

The whole group huddled close as James fell brutally into Lily. Peter leapt forward to steady her, and Claudia jumped in, standing at Lily's back and forcing the girl to turn. James' hands were on the red-head's bare waist, and he was stammering out apologies.

"Entirely my fault," Sirius said, sounding utterly un-sorry. "I tripped and pushed Remus."

"Mm," Remus contributed, smiling wryly.

James hadn't taken his hands off Lily. The two victims were both blushing wildly, not quite meeting each other's eyes. James ran one hand, shakily, hesitantly, up Lily's arm to rest on her shoulder. "Are you okay? You're not hurt?"

"Sure she isn't," Claudia said, smiling at the pair. "Why don't you dance with him to show him there are no hard feelings? This song is nice and slow so it'll help you un-rattle a little. As for you," Claudia turned to Sirius and winked. "Perhaps you need to rest for a while, you great clod."

"Clod?" Sirius roared, outraged. "I'll have you know that I am blessed with the grace of a feline, and the sure-footedness to match. Why, ask my beloved paramour, he'll tell you-"

Sirius didn't get to finish his thought as a hand appeared before him, seemingly from thin air. Bowie was singing, "_The boy in the bright blue je-eans jumped up on the stage_," and was bending towards the crowd, offering a hand to Sirius.

Stunned, Remus and Sirius just stared at each other. Without conscious decision Remus found himself nodding, and Sirius, his eyes never leaving Remus' own, took the proffered hand and was hauled up onto the stage.

Remus was unaware of Lily and James, finally dancing, next to him. He didn't notice Peter and Claudia's dumfounded stares at the platform. All he could see was Sirius, up on the stage, with David Bowie, who was whispering something to him as the band played the chorus without words.

Sirius looked like a stunned deer caught in hunting lights as Bowie whispered to him. Suddenly his wide grey eyes turned and latched onto Remus, who smiled quizzically in return. Sirius, his eyes never leaving the werewolf's, nodded very slowly and then Bowie began to dance with him.

Remus felt his mouth drop open, only slightly, very slowly. He was glad that Bowie wasn't dancing with Sirius in the same manner as the boys had been, but Remus found it hard to absorb what his eyes were telling him – David Bowie's hands were on his boyfriend. They were on those bare shoulders, now stroking that luxurious hair, now trailing down that bare chest and fiddling with a button on the purple waistcoat.

The door broken down, Lily and James were lost in each other. Peter and Claudia turned, with matching expressions of shock, to glare at Remus. They pushed past the other couple and stood with Remus. "What the hell?" Claudia squealed. "What the hell!"

"I... urgh... gah?" Peter muttered.

The grace Sirius claimed to be possessed of seemed to have deserted him, as he gaped at the rock star. Slowly, he began to dance again, more reservedly than he would with Remus, but still sexily. By the end of the song, Remus wasn't sure whether to be totally furious with Bowie or terribly proud of his lover.

"_Oh, how I sighed when they asked if I knew his name!_" Bowie sang breathily, leaning in close, one hand on Sirius' denim-clad hip, head tilted to fit the microphone between himself and his fan. To Remus, it looked as if he wanted to kiss the boy who obediently danced with him.

One more chorus, and the song was over, and then Bowie did kiss Sirius, for a moment that felt like an eternity to stunned Remus, on the cheek and murmured to him, "Get some pussy now." The microphone only just picked up the words, and Remus could tell by the confused looks of his friends that though he had heard the words clearly, with his altered ears, they hadn't understood. Remus felt himself flush angrily.

Sirius smiled, though, and said, "He's more _wolf_ than kitty. And he's got me."

Remus supposed the microphone picked this up more clearly, because suddenly Peter was asking, "What did Bowie say to him? What does he mean?"

Remus didn't answer, eyes still locked on the stage as Bowie snapped his fingers and a bouncer came over and assisted Sirius back to the edge of the stage. The man gestured as if to help Sirius back into the crowd, but the brunet grinned and shook his head and jumped off the platform and back into the space that his friends made for him.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" Claudia cried, throwing herself on him. "David danced with you! Dragged you out of the audience and danced with you! Crazy!"

Sirius ignored her, throwing his arms around Remus jubilantly. "Did you see that? He _kissed_ me!"

Remus pushed his boyfriend back a little, and rubbed his thumb over the place Bowie had kissed. Wrapping both hands into Sirius' hair he pressed their mouths together furiously. "Only I'm allowed to do that!" he growled lowly.

Sirius' cheeks were flushed, a look that was uncommon on him, and he was smiling. "My dear, you're jealous."

"Of course I am. I don't like seeing other people trying to undress you and kissing you and..." Remus cut himself off by kissing Sirius himself again. Sirius did not object, kissing Remus back tenderly. When again they separated he spoke softly.

"I think you're gorgeous when you're jealous. And we both know you're the only one who'll be undressing me anytime soon."

"Mm," Remus murmured, pressing into the kiss again.

When they pulled apart again the concert had progressed and Bowie was singing 'Ziggy Stardust' – the concert would soon be over.

Wrapping their arms around each other, Remus and Sirius turned to look at their friends. Claudia was alive with excitement, not sure which way to look and sucking violently on a cigarette. Sirius laid his head, hair now terribly mussed, on Remus' shoulder and the pair took in James and Lily.

Just as Remus had guessed, once they had started touching they didn't seem able to separate – they were still dancing, James leading Lily in a traditional style only in time with Bowie's band rather than a wizarding waltz. They appeared to be talking – Lily had her head inclined to James' and was smiling. When the pair turned they could see James' eyes were dropped to Lily's; he had a matching grin on his face.

"That looks positive," Remus said, resting his cheek on top of Sirius' head.

"They're not having sex in the bathroom though," the latter replied.

"Give it time," Remus laughed.

As for Claudia and Peter, she was still jerking around excitedly, lighting another cigarette. Peter was grinning and laughing a little, stroking one hand through her hair and watching the stage again.

Remus and Sirius did the same, holding each other close and moving to the music, singing along to 'Rock 'N Roll Suicide', a song which Remus found strangely uplifting. As the concert came to its end, with the death of Ziggy Stardust and the takeover of the Infinites, Bowie, with his character's dying breath, blew an air kiss at the pair.

The concert ended so suddenly that it felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room, the living organism of the crowd had stopped breathing. Bowie gave his usual farewell and left the stage, but the audience was yelling, screaming, calling for an encore.

The rock star obliged, and returned to the stage to sing 'The Man Who Sold the World.' When that was done, he glanced a final time at Sirius and left again, before the security teams threw open the doors of the hall and started to shepherd the fans out into the frigid night.

"Argh!" Sirius yelped as the group hit the street again. "It's freezing! Remus, why didn't you let me bring a coat?"

Remus frowned and punched Sirius hard in the (naked) arm. Then he looked around; the sidewalk and road were _swarming_ with fans, who were spreading out in all directions, and keeping coming from the hall behind them. The street was lined with innumerable cabs – they were quickly filling up and very slowly moving away.

"We'll never get a taxi," Remus said. "Do we wanna walk it?"

"In this cold!" Sirius cried. "No!"

"Sirius, if we wait for a cab it'll probably take just as long to get home as if we walk," Peter said, his arm wrapped around Claudia's shoulder, sharing warmth.

"I don't care how long it takes to get home! At least in a cab it'll be warm..." Sirius hit Remus with his most pathetically sad pleading Look. Remus rolled his eyes but it was Claudia who answered.

"If you can find a taxi, Sirius, then we will get in it. If not, we're walking now – it'll keep us warm."

Sirius kept looking yearningly at Remus until the boy rolled his eyes again and allowed Sirius to drag him up the road to find a taxi.

They found one, finally, at the end of the road, pulling up as the line of taxis shifted slowly. Sirius opened the door, sighed as he felt the warmth of the interior, and stood on the door sill, waving one arm wildly, trying to get the others' attention.

Naturally, it didn't work – the sea of bodies spewing out of the concert hall was too vast. "Hold the cab," Remus said to him. "I'll go back and find them. Wave your hand out the window when you see us coming, okay?"

Sirius smiled at him gratefully. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you too," Remus said, and smiled back, after Sirius had kissed him in thanks.

Eventually, the whole group was bundled into the cab – Lily was sitting on James' knee and Remus and Sirius had their legs tangled together.

It was _late_ by the time they returned to Sirius' house. The house was freezing and Sirius was complaining as he ran through the building, chased by Labradors, rubbing icy hands over his muscled arms feverishly. He went through the bedrooms lighting fires for everyone.

Later, alone in Sirius' room, Remus said, "You're a very gracious host," as he built up the fire there himself. He could hear the smile in Sirius' voice as he was thanked.

When the fire was finally blazing, Remus stood, stretching. He yawned widely, growling faintly in his throat. Gratefully, he stripped off the leather trousers and felt, while chilled, instantly more comfortable, and then crossed to the bed.

Sirius was sitting on the side of the bed, wrapped in a fine woollen blanket. He made room for Remus to sit beside him, sliding the rug around the younger boy's bony shoulders, before wrapping his own arms around him.

"You look so sexy, all half-undressed like that, you know," Sirius crooned in his ear, nuzzling Remus' neck.

"Oh, yeah?" Remus asked, smiling, tipping his head a little to allow Sirius easier access.

"Mhm."

"Mm," Remus murmured in reply, reaching up one hand and taking a lock of Sirius' hair between his fingers, toying with it absently.

"You looked mighty sexy in those leather trousers, too, though, with your belly all on show like that." Sirius was kissing him now, along that sensitive skin beneath his jaw bone, one hand moving to stroke his belly. "You looked totally far out."

Sirius' fingers were fiddling with the buttons of Remus' shirt now, undoing them slowly. The shirt fell open, and Sirius began to kiss his way down the werewolf's neck, chest, lower... Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius' shoulders and lay back on the bed, at quite an odd angle. Sirius clambered over him, dragging the blanket with him.

Remus gasped as Sirius bent over his body again (with difficulty seeing as he had not yet removed his painted-on jeans), and felt the hot damp kisses he was trailing down his torso, the kind of sexy kisses where tongues get involved and teeth scrape sensuously across sensitised skin. Remus felt his breathing deepen and tangled his hands in Sirius' hair.

The older boy kept moving down Remus' body, and tucked his fingers into the waistband of Remus' shorts. "Isn't this about where we left off?" he questioned, breathlessly.

"I think it's about right," Remus answered, his voice just as ragged.

Sirius tugged gently at Remus' boxers and the latter obligingly lifted his hips to allow the satin to slide off his thin body. Remus threw his head back, eyes rolling shut, mouth open in silent profanity as Sirius' kiss crept lower still...

Before too long they had forgotten the chill air of the night, or the makeup that smeared away from its precise application. They forgot David Bowie and Curt Wild and their friends. All that existed was hot mouths and cold hands and the expanse of naked skin waiting to be touched. Their ringing ears no longer heard drums or bass lines, only gasps and groans and whispered adorations.

When it was over, Remus kissed Sirius desperately on the mouth, the older boy smiling as he kissed back, stroking his hair. Remus pulled away and whispered, "Your eyeliner is all over your face. It looks funny."

He couldn't see where Sirius' cosmetics had transferred to; his back was to the fire and his face was shadowed. Remus didn't care anyway – Sirius was still the most perfect star of them all. Instead he replied, "Do you think we succeeded with Jimmy and Lily?"

Remus saw the dark smudge of Sirius' lips curve into a smile. "I have no doubt. I'll be surprised if they spend the night apart." He yawned.

"Don't do that," Remus smiled, repeating the yawn.

"What?" Sirius' tone was full of innocence and light. "I've had a long night, you know, dancing with rock stars and getting shagged six ways from Sunday."

Remus flushed just a little; he hoped the firelight wouldn't illuminate it. "Yeah, well, consider it a New Year's present," he replied.

Sirius kissed him, gently, lovingly. "Best New Year's, ever," he said.

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><p><span>AN: I know it was a bit longer than the others and I apologise that there is no intermission break in this chapter, but I hoped you enjoyed it still! Thanks loves. :)


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Well, it's not early, but it is here! I hope you all find this a fitting ending and I hope to have the first instalment of sequel up within the week. I would do it tonight but it's late and I have an early start tomorrow, so blah. I want to thank my most wonderful, adorable, fantastic reviewers! I simply love you and hope you will follow the sequel. Thank you!

Disclaimer: Whatever I've written before.

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><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

"Muggles are at it again."

Remus stretched and groaned slightly, his body rebelling against the increasing wakefulness of his mind. He could feel the mild warmth of the winter sun through the cloak spread over him. Sirius was talking away.

The Marauders had been back at Hogwarts for less than a week and full moon had been the night before last. Remus ached all over and was exhausted, which had prompted the gang to skip Transfiguration, their last class for the day, and spend it in the bracing outside air.

Remus had taken his daily newspaper, dried a patch of grass under the group's favourite birch tree, spread himself out and promptly fallen asleep. He woke now to find Sirius reading his paper and Claudia lying on her back with Peter, both of them cloud watching and smoking cigarettes. Lily and James had opted not to skip class – Lily's prefect code of ethics wouldn't hear of it and James had decided to stick with her.

Remus groaned again and rolled onto his side, opening his eyes to find Sirius sitting close by him. The paper was strewn across the grass, pages crumpled and opened on the politics section – Sirius was perusing the latest information about the war in Viet Nam.

He looked over as Remus made noise. A smile split his face. "Hello there. Feel better?"

Remus shut his eyes heavily. "Not really," he said.

Sirius put his hand out and rested it briefly on Remus' head. "Poor nazz. Here," Sirius tossed something at him.

Remus opened his eyes, sensing rather than feeling the object land beside his head. It was a chocolate bar. Remus smiled, turning a cheeky look at his boyfriend. "Not gonna try and steal half of it are you?"

Sirius smiled back just as mischievously. "Nope. I've already got one." He held it up, tore it open and began to eat, shuffling a little closer to Remus and turning back to the newspaper.

Remus slid one hand out from under the cloak that he realised was Sirius'; it had obviously draped across him after he'd fallen asleep. He curled the hand around the chocolate and bit a piece from it, before letting his eyes flutter closed again.

Remus wasn't sure what time of the day it was, but the air was cool and a stiff, icy breeze was blowing. He could hear the air billowing through the treetop, hear the ripple of the water from the nearby lake. He could smell cigarette smoke tangling in the breeze, and Sirius' cologne and other smells of him on the cloak.

The chocolate was rich in his mouth and though sore Remus felt comfortable, pillowed by the grass, sun shining down warm through the chilly air. He was just starting to drift into unconsciousness again when a voice rang out over the courtyard.

"You're gonna get detention!"

Remus snapped his eyes open again and groggily sat up, clutching Sirius' cloak around him as he blinked and squinted. Lily and James were coming across the lawn towards them, holding hands and looking very pleased with themselves.

Sirius popped an arm around Remus' shoulder. "Nah we won't," he said dismissively, not looking up from the paper.

Remus watched as Lily's face fell a little – she might have been starting to become a part of their group by right of her new title as James' girlfriend, but clearly she still relished the thought of them getting into trouble. She said now, "You can't skip classes – _especially_ McGonagall's classes – and expect to get away with it."

"We have before," Sirius said, blasé, turning a page.

Lily frowned at him but James just grinned and tossed himself down on the grass next to Peter. Following the blond's gaze he demanded cheerily, "What're you looking at?"

Peter and Claudia began to point out random shapes in the clouds that they had interpreted. Remus sat himself up properly, adjusting the cloak and leaning against Sirius' shoulder; Sirius had Remus' own cloak draped about him.

Remus looked around the courtyard, getting his bearings. There was a threat of more snow in the clouds. A few students had come outside now that lessons were over for the day, but most seemed to have opted to stay inside the castle, where warm fires were lit. Remus supposed they'd have to make a move inside before too long – the sun would be setting soon and the evening meal would be served.

Sirius had flicked the paper over to the culture section. For two weeks after Bowie's New Year's concert there had been articles about it, with the odd photograph of Sirius and Bowie dancing together on stage, with captions like 'Lady Stardust came to blow our minds'. Remus had felt a little strange, surreal seeing his lover in the newspapers but Sirius thought it was marvellous and had snipped out every photo he could to take home to his wardrobe.

"Ooh, Brian Slade special," Sirius said, reaching the section he'd been after. There was a full-page picture of Brian Slade, which Remus had to admit was very nice, but it was when Sirius _turned_ the page...

"God," Sirius said, eyes glued to the paper, unable to utter another sound, mouth hanging open. Remus felt his eyebrows slide up and just stared.

Lily, who had sat down with them at the mention of Brian Slade, tugged the paper towards herself a little to get a better look. Her head tipped to the side but she seemed less impressed than the two boys.

The paper showed a large photograph, captioned with 'camp isn't just a row of tents!'. The photo was of Brian Slade and Curt Wild, engaged in what appeared to be a very passionate kiss. The kind of kiss where the rest of the world drops away. The Perfect Moment kind of kiss.

Sirius turned his head to look at Remus, mouth still ajar. "Did you see that coming?"

Remus was just staring, staring at Curt in the picture, at his closed eyes, at his rumpled hair, at his swollen lips... if the photo wasn't black and white Remus was sure those stubbly cheeks would flushed.

His inattention seemed to snap Sirius out of his daze – the brunet hit him on the shoulder (no easy feat as they still had their arms wrapped around one another). "Hey!" he exclaimed. "Stop checking out Curt Wild and pay attention to me!"

Remus grinned and blushed and turned to face the older boy. "You know you're the only one for me," he said and kissed him.

Sirius kissed him back feverishly, leaving Remus breathless. He pulled back after some moments and laughed. "You don't need to compete with them," he said, gesturing to the paper. They both looked back down, only to find the paper had disappeared. Glancing around, the boys discovered that James had pinched it, trying to discover what all the fuss was for. The others had all huddled around it in awe.

"Looks like Glam rock is here to stay," Claudia said, grinning and running her fingers over the newsprint. "Oh and look, there's a list of concert dates here – we should go and see them!"

"Oh, no," Sirius called to her. "Remus will spend the whole night making mooncalf eyes at Curt." He narrowed his eyes at Remus.

Remus rolled his back and said in a voice, dripping with sarcasm, "I only have eyes for you, sweet."

The was a pause, before Sirius smiled and softly said, "Good," pulling Remus a little closer and hugging him.

The others flipped idly through the newspaper, with threats from Sirius about desecrating parts that he planned to keep, until the day grew shadowy and cold. Remus ate the rest of his now rather soft chocolate bar and Sirius hummed idly to himself, inspecting his hair for splits and his fingernails for blemishes.

Footsteps came crunching over the pebbly shore of the lake. Remus turned to see the gamekeeper, Hagrid, heading back to his hut for the night. With a sigh, Remus poked Sirius in the ribs. "C'mon. We'd better head in."

Sirius nodded, stood and put a hand out to help Remus to his feet. He rose, and grimaced, muscles aching as he stretched and spine cracking painfully. As Sirius hauled him up he felt the wounds inflicted by himself and his transformation pulling.

The group went inside the castle and made their way to the Great Hall for the evening meal. They split down each side of the table, Claudia and Lily excitedly pulling the paper back and forth between them, Peter and James joining in with occasional outbursts from Sirius: "Careful, I wanna keep this picture!" and the such.

Remus ate only a little, spending most of the meal leaning on his elbows on the table, hands over his ears, eyes closed. Once upon a time other students would see him doing this and would tease him for it, coming up behind him and pulling his long hair or poking him in the back, things that kids are wont to do just for a reaction. However, the reaction they would get was always a furious outburst, something nobody thought the quiet, studious werewolf was capable of. The other Marauder's encouraged the rumours that Remus had a continuing illness and people left him alone now.

"Come on," Sirius jostled him suddenly and Remus growled. "Bed."

Remus shook his head. "Bath." He slowly stood from the table and looked at his friends – they were still eating and dessert had not yet been sent up. Sirius stood next to him and Remus sent him a grateful smile.

"C'mon then," Sirius said and took his arm.

They wandered slowly up the stairways to the prefect's bathroom. Remus gave the password and they entered the room. It was blissfully empty and Remus locked the door behind them before going over to the tub and running several taps.

Sirius was sitting by the side of the tub, tipping his head from side to side, watching bubbles and foam skid around the sunken marble pit. Remus slowly slid Sirius' cloak from his shoulders and then scrabbled out of his school uniform, wincing as he put pressure on his injuries. They would heal quickly and leave no scar – the only scar he ever bore was the one from his Bite – but in the meantime they required careful management.

Remus sank into the bath, sighing as the warmth of the water eased away the aching pain in his muscles.

"Ooh, sexy," Sirius cooed, splashing a little water towards him. "You look very eatable wet, you know."

Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius, but couldn't repress a smile.

He began to gently wash the wounds, sponging away the weeping blood, careful not to break the scabbing that was developing. Sirius sat at the side of the bath and spoke to him, largely to distract him from the job at hand.

"D'you wanna go into Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Sirius asked at one point.

"You can't – banned for tinkering with that motorbike remember?"

Sirius pouted. "She is _not_ 'that motorbike'! Besides, it wasn't the tinkering I was banned for, it was the getting _caught_ that got me banned."

Remus rolled his eyes to the ceiling – which was painted with merrows. He smiled despite himself – even when he was feeling self-pitying Sirius had a way of cheering him up.

"Anyway," Sirius continued, watching Remus with narrowed eyes. "Just because I have been forbidden from venturing beyond the walls of this stronghold doesn't mean you need be similarly entrapped."

Remus smiled again, swimming his way across to Sirius, his task complete. "I may go if I feel up to it. But probably not – I've got a stack of homework to catch up on and it'll just be me and the breeders, so..."

Sirius threw his head back and roared with laughter. Remus covered one ear with a hand, the other hand clutching to the side of the bath. "Remus," Sirius said through his chuckles. "That is the rudest thing I have ever heard you say. 'Breeders'! Remus I do believe my arrogance is rubbing off on you." Sirius smiled at him indulgently.

"Bound to, isn't it," Remus said, half-wearily. "C'mon." He hauled himself out of the tub.

Sirius grabbed him a towel, and wrapped it around him. Remus thanked him and kissed him gently. Sirius folded him into a warm hug, before handing him his clothes.

The pair took a short cut up to Gryffindor tower and walked into the common room to find that most of the House was still at the evening meal. They flopped onto the couch nearest the fire, which was happily roaring away.

"We should have brought some snacks up from the kitchens," Sirius lamented.

"You didn't have to leave tea early, you know. You could have had dessert," Remus returned, sighing and shifting his feet into Sirius' lap.

"I know. You didn't look like you were coping though."

Remus frowned at him. "I've always coped before!" he said, moodily.

"I know," Sirius repeated. "Except _before_ I wasn't your boyfriend and you weren't supposed to guess I was in love with you in case you freaked out and so I couldn't give you special attention. Now, I can and I'm going to. Plus, it's a good opportunity to spend time alone with you.

"When the others get here I'll just send Peter down to the kitchens. He won't mind," Sirius finished.

"I have some chocolate stashed upstairs."

"That's okay, there'll be plenty of food left over. Peter'll bring some up for us all."

Before too long, the others arrived, bringing a good deal of the other Gryffindor students with them. Friday nights had less activities going than Saturdays so many students opted to spend it on homework or relaxing with friends – groups congregated around the common room, but the Marauders had already staked out the best spots by the fire.

Claudia flopped onto the rug as Sirius and Peter wandered off to the kitchens. Peter had only agreed to go and make a raid if Sirius joined him, so the brunet shifted Remus' feet, stood, kissed Remus goodbye and left.

James threw himself into his usual armchair and Lily sat between him and Claudia, on the hearth.

Remus enjoyed the warmth of the fire, making himself comfortable on the couch, listening to the girls chattering away about the current fashionable lipsticks and nail colours. Claudia went to her dorm room to get her nail polishes and began to paint her toenails. Lily put an album on Remus' record player. James flipped through a Quidditch magazine.

Sirius and Peter returned, quite some time later. Even with Marauder short cuts it was a long trip to the kitchens and back. They carried a cardboard box between them, which Peter hurriedly took up to the dormitory. He came back with a deck of cards.

Sirius lifted Remus' feet from the couch and sandwiched his way back underneath them, grinning. Remus surveyed him through his eyelashes. Peter began to deal out the cards, and Remus gestured to refuse a hand.

He guessed he must have dozed off again. He didn't feel like he had been asleep and he certainly didn't remember sleeping – but when he opened his eyes it was to find the common room almost empty and the record had changed.

He felt somewhat better, though – the bath had rested his muscles and the snooze had refreshed his mind. He stretched a bit, and found that he had definitely fallen asleep, for he was no longer spread over Sirius' lap, but curled up on his side, facing the back of the couch. He began to turn over, kicking Sirius deliberately.

That dark head turned to face him, and Remus blinked sleepily, innocently at him. Sirius grinned back and began tickling his feet as Remus stretched them out over his lap again.

Sirius extended one of his own legs and poked Peter in the elbow with his toe. "Oi, wanna go get that box down? Bring some butterbeer too."

Peter flipped him off in reply, but smiled happily enough and went up to the dormitory.

When he returned the boy placed the box beside his chair and deposited the contents on the rug, in between everybody.

Remus was impressed with the haul this day, and the site of the treats suddenly made his stomach growl – a good sign that his body was starting to get over the transformation. He reached out over the side of the couch and snagged an éclair. He bit into it, and Sirius started tickling him again; Remus choked and kicked his boyfriend hard in the thigh, getting a pained expression coupled with a cheeky grin in reply. Only Sirius could pull off that ambivalent combination.

Lily took a square of vanilla slice. "I guess I really don't want to know how you guys get a hold of all this stuff."

"Probably not," Sirius agreed, uncapping his butterbeer and rubbing his leg. He looked at Remus. "Feeling better, Moony?"

"Much," Remus said around a mouthful.

"It's pretty awful that you're always so unwell Remus. What exactly is it you have, if you don't mind my asking?" Lily said, concern in her voice, looking at him with innocent curiosity written in her eyes.

"Long story, I don't really wanna go over it," Remus tried hard not to sound short.

Lily looked a little surprised, but shrugged and leant against James' legs. He reached down and stroked her hair. "We Marauders are full of lots of little secrets. A few big ones too. Stick around long enough and we'll tell you all of them." James' voice was light and mock-serious.

Lily smiled up at him, and Remus could see adoration plain in all her features. "I plan on being around for a long time," she said, softly.

There was a little pause, as the others all looked at each other. Then suddenly Peter and Sirius launched into simultaneous sarcastic _'Awwwww'_s. "Yes, yes, warm and fuzzy feelings for everyone. Remus, am I dealing you in?" Claudia said, dismissing the boys.

"Yeah, go on."

The cards came around, but Remus found himself not paying attention to the game – not that it made any difference when Peter was playing. Curt Wild sang away in the background, from one of Sirius' old Wild Rats records. The sound was quite a bit heavier and more melancholy than other Glam bands the group were fond of, but the 'Rats style was unique and they had a regular spot on Sirius' rotation.

Remus played poorly, distracted, not by anything in particular, just unable to concentrate. He found himself after a short while yearning for his bed, but unwilling to leave the cosy warmth of the couch beside the fire. Sirius passed him a slice of apple pie and a bottle of butterbeer. James toyed with Lily's hair and she plucked at the hairs on his toes, wearing a contented, monkeyish grin on her thin face. Peter played cards as goodly as always and Claudia sang along to the music as the night wore on.

After losing four hands of cards (one to James, the rest all to Peter) and eating far too many deep-fried, chocolate covered treats, Remus finally decided to drag himself up to bed. He stood, and swayed a little as his blood flow responded slowly to the change of posture, then bid his friends goodnight and ascended the stairs.

Before he had reached the door Sirius caught up with him. "Stay," Remus protested. "I'm only going to bed, enjoy yourself."

"Wanna be with you. Cheer you up. It's my job."

Remus shrugged and entered the dormitory, Sirius following behind him and closing the door. The older boy quickly crossed the room and turned down Remus' bed, before returning to Remus' side and helping the werewolf undress. Remus was a little stiff and slow in his movements still and he appreciated the help. He kissed Sirius on the tip of his chiselled nose. "You're sweet."

A small smiled curved Sirius' mouth. "S'my job," he said again, steering Remus to the bed before stripping down to his boxers and sliding between the warm sheets next to him.

Remus sighed deeply, feeling utterly comfortable. He loved his school bed. It was the perfect firmness for him, his pillows were always plumped and the sheets were always warmed in winter before he got in; even the days he skipped tea and went to bed immediately after classes it was always perfectly attended to.

Sirius curled up close to him, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and touching their foreheads together. Remus could feel the heat of Sirius' breath mingling with his.

"D'you know how gorgeous you are when you're sleeping?" Sirius asked quietly after a little while.

Remus snorted. "No, actually. I've never seen myself sleep, Padfoot."

"Then you'll have to take my word for it." Sirius' voice was warm and gentle, his hand stroking Remus' hair slowly. Remus snuggled deeper into the bed. "I was watching you sleep today, out by the lake. Is that super creepy?"

"Kinda, yeah," Remus said on a yawn. "But I guess since we're already sleeping together I don't really need to worry, do I?"

Remus could hear the grin in Sirius' words. "Nah. I can't stalk you 'cause we're always together anyway."

"Mm."

"So I was watching you," Sirius continued, voice soft again. "And you looked so peaceful. All those little lines disappear from your face, and your lips all parted and pouty. I just wanted to wake you up and ravish you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhm." Sirius was silent for a moment. Finally he continued, "I like that I'm able to talk to you about this now. I don't have to hide my concern for you, or my love for you. Or that I'm perving on you."

"Perving on me, huh? While I sleep?"

"Oh, big time," Sirius said, his tone low and sultry and mocking. "You are so far out gorgeous when you sleep."

"As opposed to the rest of the time?"

"Yeah, exactly," Sirius teased. His arm settled warmly around Remus' shoulders and the younger boy burrowed his head against Sirius' chest, enjoying being close to him after his day of fatigue and stress. Mm, there was that wonderful smell again, the same one Remus had noticed on the cloak. He drew in a deep breath and smiled...

The next thing he knew it was morning and James was making a frightful racket as he tried to decide which pair of jeans was his warmest. Remus could hear him muttering and the odd garment hit his bed, caving the curtains in over Sirius' sleeping form.

Remus stretched and turned. Sleeping Sirius moaned a little and tightened his arm around the werewolf's waist. Suddenly a belt came flying across, slipping through the break where the curtains met. It was a thick strap of leather with an enormous metal, glittery star for a buckle. The buckle stuck into Sirius' naked side, the sash slapping across the two boys.

"_Arrrgghhh_! James Potter!" Sirius bellowed into Remus' ear. The latter grimaced and groaned and hid his head under the pillow as Sirius careened out of the bed. Remus peeped out a moment later to see his lover swinging the belt around, striding across the room, gooseflesh rising over him, to where James was bent over his trunk.

"Hm?" James looked around distractedly, eyes popping wide open as he saw the angry Padfoot approaching him. "What?"

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, waking me up at this time of a Saturday morning, by throwing around terribly fashionable belts? Haven't you _learned_? Don't wake Sirius and don't throw good accessories!"

In the next second Sirius had whapped James with the belt (_gently_, Remus hoped) and tackled him to the floor. The resulting quarrel saw both boys rolling around the dormitory, James beating Sirius with a shoe, Sirius flailing the belt ... kneeing James in the belly; getting his hair pulled.

"_Accio spectacles_," Remus muttered, dragging himself to sit on the side of his bed. The glasses slid off James' face and positioned themself safely in Remus' outstretched palm. He perched them on the end of his nose, stood, and did his best McGonagall impression. The others ignored him.

Normally in this situation Remus would have jumped on top of the two of them and joined in the fracas, but today his body screamed in rebellion at the thought, still bearing the sharp pains of his transformation. Instead he grabbed his wand from the headboard and shot both his friends with the stunning curse, handily learned in Defence Against the Dark Arts class.

The result was rather amusing, Remus thought, and Peter, who had finally been drawn out of bed by the ruckus, seemed to agree. He was chuckling darkly, pulling his dressing robe about himself.

Remus stood, glaring over the top of James' glasses, wand in hand, other hand perched on hip. And at his feet lay James, on his back, legs curled awkwardly in the air, hands in a frozen wave above his head, shoe on his belly, and Sirius, who had fallen to the side when the spell hit and lay now with one knee pressed into his own chest and his hands stretched out, fingers like gnarled claws.

"Well, well."

Peter continued to chortle, nudging Sirius in the buttocks with his toes. "Probably should have more clothes on before you adopt that pose in mixed company, Padfoot. _Really_ not a good look."

Remus smirked (and had to privately disagree with Peter's opinion) – if not for the curse he knew Sirius would launch into a tirade at a comment so designed to attack his vanity.

James just twinkled myopically up at the ceiling.

"Well," Remus said again, turning to Peter with a smile coiling across his face. "It's nice and quiet in here again, think I'll return to bed. What about you Petey?"

The blond boy yawned widely. "Well, I'm up now." He checked his watch. "Might go get some coffee with Claud." He tied his robe sloppily, stepped on James and Sirius as he passed them, laughing still, and disappeared.

Remus smiled indulgently at his friends on the floor. He sat down on the side of his bed again, still peering at them from over the rim of James' glasses. "Oh yes, quite lovely." He rummaged around in his bedside table drawer, pulling out a chocolate bar and beginning to enjoy it. "Wonderful morning. Chocolate and bed, perfect way to spend a Saturday morn."

The chocolate, Remus thought in all honesty, actually _was_. Rich and melty. Mhmhmmmm.

Sirius and James were both eyeballing him disgustedly.

Remus turned and threw his legs up into the bed, leaning back and reclining against his pillows, chewing delightedly on his confection. "Mm. Oh yes. Oh, what a beautiful morning."

A raspy, crackly noise issued from James. Remus prodded the glasses higher up his nose and turned to look over the side of the bed, expression neutrally innocent. Wrath was boiling away in his friends' eyes. He flashed them a more genuine grin and said, "Oh all right," and lifted the spell.

"Aaarggghh!"

"ATTACK!"

James and Sirius untangled themselves from the floor and launched at Remus, barraging into him.

"_Oomph_!" Remus gasped in surprise and pain and spat chocolate towards his bed canopy.

James was straddling his lap, tickling him violently under the arms and around the ribs, cackling maniacally. Sirius had commandeered his chocolate and was making loud orgasmic noises as he devoured it, far more adult rated than Remus' simple 'oh yes' could ever have _dreamed_ to be. Remus ached all over from unhealed bruises and laughing too hard.

"Gerroff ... you ... bastard!" Remus said, but he was laughing and smiling and pushing at James' naked thighs and Sirius was moaning in his ear and _he'd just woken up_!

_AAAAAARRRGGHHHHHHHH!_

Remus summoned every vestige of his considerable strength and pushed James over. The boy fell backwards, limbs flailing, and Remus leapt atop him, twisting the younger boy's arm and throwing a few friendly punches until he felt Sirius land heavily on his back. Remus' body gave out and he felt himself squish into James like a pancake, glasses going flying.

The roughhousing had stopped abruptly. Sirius had planted himself squarely, sitting firmly on Remus' twinging back and singing "King of the Castle".

James' legs were kicking every which way, smacking wildly into Remus' kneecap more often than not. Finally, between the combined writhing effort of James and Remus they managed to throw Sirius off.

The three boys sat finally in a wonky circle, faces flushed, identical naughty grins marring their faces. Well, not quite identical, as Sirius had the tip of his tongue poking out between his front teeth.

"Silly bugger," James said affectionately, reaching out and ruffling Remus' hair. "Strong but silly." He rubbed idly at his shoulder.

"Well, you did ask for it." Remus smirked and looked over at Sirius. Feeling giddy with morning happiness, laughter burbled up in him again as he saw that tongue protruding and chocolate smears across his boyfriend's lips.

_Mmm_, Remus thought, narrowing his eyes a little as he stared. Pity James was sitting there too, or Remus would be taking advantage of such a marvellous opportunity.

James' eyes followed Remus gaze, squinting without his glasses in the half-dark under the bed canopy. "You two," he muttered the vague comment darkly, but laced with good humour. He took them both in with affectionate eyes and ruffled Remus' hair again. "Well... s'pose breakfast is calling."

"Mine was stolen," Remus said enigmatically, glaring at Sirius, who licked his lips and rolled his eyes in pleasure.

James clambered out of the bed, fished his glasses up from the floor and replaced them on his nose. Then, despite all three boys wearing nothing but underwear, he leaned back across the bed and dragged Remus and Sirius into a rough, warm hug. "Love you crazy buggers."

"Yeah yeah, love you too Prongs, old bean," Sirius said, patting his back.

"Lily's making you soft, Jamie," Remus followed up, making a cheeky face.

James flushed. "S'not Lily making me _soft_," he said, sounding mildly offended, but still grinning as he straightened up. "It's all your namby-pamby music."

"NAMBY-PAMBY?" Sirius exploded, sounding scandalised. "Oh, you most foul heathen! How darest you besmirch my angelic recordings? Think you can make them culpable for your feminine impulses?"

"Yes," James said simply, turning back to his clothes, lightly toned abdominals bouncing the early morning sunlight about the room. He pulled on a long-sleeved green t-shirt sporting Elton John's face and black flared jeans, tossing his offensive belt carelessly back into his trunk. "Coming to breakfast?"

"Not immediately," Sirius said, grinning widely, tirade forgotten.

James shrugged, looking briefly in his mirror and scraping a brush half-heartedly across his head. "You coming to Hogsmeade with us this morning, Rem?"

"Nah," Remus replied. He and Sirius shared a secretive smile.

"You sure? It's the last one before Valentine's. And you'll be stuck with _him_ all day!"

"That's all right, Jim. You and Lily enjoy some time together."

James shrugged again. "Okay. See you at breakfast."

He grabbed his cloak, tossing it about his shoulders and left the room.

Remus and Sirius turned to each other. There was still chocolate smudged across Sirius' face. Remus shuffled himself around, wrapped his hands into Sirius' hair and forcefully pulled the brunet into a kiss.

He ran his tongue across Sirius' bottom lip, drawing it deep into his mouth and sucking gently the chocolate from it. _Utterly lovely way to start the morning_, Remus thought, sighing into Sirius' mouth.

"Gah," the latter moaned when they drew apart. "What brought that on?"

"You're covered in chocolate," Remus replied, sliding himself out of the bed and stretching _everything_. His back clunked and his knuckles cracked and his knees cricked. Sirius pouted at him, and then his face fell even further as Remus walked away.

"Where're you going?"

"Shower."

"Spoil sport!"

Remus smiled and blew him a kiss, before making his way into the dorm bathroom. It was still early and the floors were cold, the rooms themselves not much better. The icy weather of winter seemed to sink into the stone walls of the castle, refusing to create warmth until far later in the day. Come summer, however, it kept the castle very comfortable.

Remus fiddled with the taps in the bathroom, trying to get a hot shower going. He dropped his boxer shorts to the floor and stepped under the steaming water, relishing the comfort of it. He inspected his body for wounds – there were a few nasty gashes standing out angrily against his pale skin still, but most of the injuries were beginning to fade out now. Being a werewolf did have the occasional perk.

"Are you trying to check out your own bum?"

Remus jerked himself up straight, spinning around violently to face the room. "Sirius I'm in the shower!"

"And?" Sirius' face was alight with joy. He was beaming merrily at Remus as he let his eyes roam over the boy's naked and wet body. "Mhm. Showering is a good look for you, Remie. Budge over."

Sirius stepped out of his own underwear and slid his way past Remus to get under the water. However, the second the stream landed on his goosebump-y flesh he ricocheted out again. "Aaarghh! Remus! That is piping hot. How can you have it so hot?"

"It's not hot!"

"It bloody is!"

Grumbling, Remus turned the taps down a little. Sirius sidled his way back in. "Well, it's better," he relented. In the next moment he had wrapped his arms around Remus' waist, drawing their bodies close together under the water. "_This_ is better."

"Glad you approve," Remus muttered dryly, though, privately, he had to admit it was, very. Sirius' body was warm and soft and firm and cold, all at once. The water was bringing out flushes of red over his delicate pureblooded skin as it drew the coolness from his flesh. The shower transformed Sirius' hair into a shiny, black waterfall.

Remus' own hair was hanging heavily about his face, darkened like mature honey, the curls dragging downwards. Sirius snuffled his nose into it, breathing in and then snorting and tossing his head as water went up his nostrils.

Remus ran his hand down Sirius' body, resting it at the jut of his hip, digging his fingertips into the skin. He rested his cheek on Sirius' shoulder, eyes closed, feeling an oddly sensation, like he was crying as the water dribbled across his eyelids, lashes, cheeks...

Sirius was kissing his neck. And stroking the small of his back, the fingers of one hand keeping up a terrible rhythm against his spine, slippery and wet. The kisses were sliding up his jaw, ignoring the three days worth of growth. Remus lifted and turned his head, meeting Sirius' mouth in a slick, wet kiss.

"This is _much_ better," Sirius mumbled. One of his hands tangled in Remus' hair, holding the kiss firm, the other hand toying with Remus' ticklish nerves in the small of his back. As Sirius' tongue touched his lip Remus felt his brain stop thinking, his body becoming alive with sensation:

...The sting of the shower. The heat of the water. The press of Sirius' hand. The softness of his mouth. The _slide_ of his tongue. All the electric points where their bodies touched – the stretch of chest and leg and _hip_.

"Gahhhh," Remus groaned, tightening his grip on Sirius, his mouth filling with water.

"Mm," the other boy replied, clearly distracted.

Remus let his other hand slide down Sirius' body. It felt toned and smooth, hot, under his fingers. Down, over the sharp curve of his hipbone. Down, twisting its way towards that most personal place of a man's anatomy. Sirius drew in a harsh breath and bit Remus' lip.

A little while later, a shorter time than Sirius cared to admit, his mouth tore away from Remus' and he let out a hissing breath, his fingers biting viciously into Remus' bony shoulder. "_Far out_!"

Remus shook his fingers out under the water, and smiled, a genuine sweet smile, at Sirius who beamed back at him, arms wrapped tightly about each other's waists. The shower cascaded about them. Remus reached for the soap and gently rubbed it over Sirius' back.

"Mm," Sirius murmured again, tightening both arms around Remus and snuggling into him. Remus fit his chin into the crook of his boyfriend's neck. Sirius continued, "'Tis a good way to start the day. You were right."

"I usually am," Remus replied, completely modest.

The shower helped unwind Remus' muscles, and the boys took their time gently washing each other, kissing, touching. Sirius ran the cake of soap carefully over the few wounds that remained on Remus, murmuring little encouragements.

"You know, I've been dealing with them for _years_, Sirius. It's okay."

"I know," Sirius says. "And I've seen you before, afterwards, but it's different, now, isn't it?"

"I guess."

They left the shower, brushing their teeth in the steam-filled room, having a spitting contest and flicking each other with the towels. Sirius wouldn't stop, and Remus ran laughing, mouth un-rinsed, out into the dormitory, Sirius in hot pursuit.

Remus wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, and then slid himself into Sirius' arms, kissing him softly. "Love you, you great stupid."

Sirius dropped the towel, kissing Remus' stubbly jaw as he replied, "Love you also."

Remus sucked in a breath. "C'mon then. Breakfast?"

"Uh, I guess. What do you feel like?"

"To be honest? Chocolate."

"We-ell, we might have some treats left over from last night."

"Oh, delicious, stale desserts."

"None of your sarcasm, now," Sirius said, stepping out of the hug and frowning mockingly. "They'll have been adequately refrigerated by the sub-zero temperatures overnight. C'mon. To the common room!"

"Can I put trousers on first?"

Sirius leered lasciviously. "Must you?"

Remus gave him a sly, lopsided smile and didn't reply, instead crossing to his trunk and pulling out some clothes – his new red Curt Wild t-shirt, wide-legged jeans and Sirius' abandoned cloak.

Sirius was busy dressing by his bed, which was still perfectly made. He grabbed his hairbrush and Remus' hand and dragged him downstairs to the common room.

Remus' usual three-day old newspaper was waiting for him in his usual chair. The remainders of their previous night's snacking were still on the hearth rug as well, though the empty butterbeer bottles were nowhere about.

Sirius flopped onto the couch, lit the fire that was made up in the grate, and pulled the box of food into his lap. Remus retrieved his paper before throwing himself down into the other corner of the couch. He muttered, "Lazy. So, so lazy..." as he swung his legs up and rested his feet against Sirius.

"Yes," Sirius agreed, pulling half a chocolate tart out of the snack box. "What's happening to us? We're turning into an old married couple."

"We can be outrageous and drunk tonight if you like, and spend tomorrow hungover. Let me check my homework first though."

"Sounds like a plan," Sirius said with a grin, passing some of the tart across.

Remus sighed and bit into the pie. The crust was very slightly soft in that way that signals a pastry is staling, yet it was still appetising. From the first nibble Remus found that his appetite had truly returned with a vengeance and he finished the slice quickly. "Any more of that?" he asked, looking across. Sirius passed over another piece.

Licking his own fingers clear of crumbs, Sirius curled his feet up under him on the couch. Remus thought he suddenly looked twelve years old again, watching as Sirius flicked his wand at the record player. _The Ballad of Maxwell Demon_ began to play.

"D'you wanna go and see Brian Slade in concert?" the brunet asked suddenly, around a mouthful of doughnut.

Remus swallowed the remainder of his second slice of tart. "Sure," he said nonchalantly.

Sirius eyed him narrowly. "Do you promise not to perve on Curt Wild the whole entire time?"

"Can't make that promise, sorry."

"Why not?" Sirius demanded.

Remus looked at him and quirked a smile. "Don't be jealous, you ridiculous great girl. It's not like I'm _really_ looking. It's not like I fantasise about him. There's just something about him that I'm drawn to ... something ... something _wolf_-like between us. I just feel ... something," Remus finished lamely. He knew he wasn't articulating clearly and excused himself mentally.

"_Fantasise_?" Sirius screeched.

Remus chuckled. He reached out and clapped a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I don't believe you're really jealous. You just like stirring me up. You love the attention."

Sirius' expression gave nothing away. Finally, he broke the stare with a beaming grin and said, "Well, I think they might be quite okay. I think we should go and see them. I was looking through the paper last night when you were sleeping – they're having a concert at Hammersmith in summer. Shall I get tickets?"

"Sure," Remus said again, still fixing Sirius with that sly smile.

Sirius returned the look, deadpan, then stretched across and hit Remus in the shoulder. "You're lucky I love you so much, y'know."

Remus let the mischievous look drop away, replacing it with a warm, soft smile. "I know. I'm grateful."

Sirius' face echoed the expression, and he blushed, just oh-so slightly.

Remus began to flip through his paper, eating day-old desserts and wishing they had decided to attend breakfast so he could have had a cup of coffee. Sirius sat brushing his hair rhythmically.

Brian Slade started to sing 'The Whole Shebang'.

"Hey," Sirius smiled, shifting on the couch, laying himself gently across Remus' body, and kissed him softly but thoroughly.

"You are insatiable," Remus said once he'd pulled back, but he could feel heat drawing into his smiling cheeks.

"What?" Innocent. "We got together when this song was playing. Did you already forget?"

"_We'll take the whole shebang! All or nothing – anything! Ecstasy's the birthright of our gang..._"

"Mm. Ecstasy. That sounds pretty accurate," Remus agreed, running a hand into Sirius' wet hair.

"Mhm."

Sirius kissed him again, and Remus stopped thinking about the song and focussed on feeling. He felt his arms move to circle Sirius' shoulders, the glide of lip on lip, the warmth of Sirius' body the heat of his touch.

Sirius drew back and laid his head on Remus' shoulder, burying his face into the sunny curls. Remus felt the boy's arms go around him, holding him just that little bit too tight. Sirius muttered something, the faintest whisper. Remus didn't think he was _supposed_ to hear it, but his ears picked it up nonetheless: "_You're_ the whole shebang, Remus. You're _perfect_."

Remus hugged Sirius back, snorting silky hair out of his nose and biting Sirius' ear as he replied, "I love you."

Remus could hear the grin in Sirius' voice when he answered, "I never tire of hearing that. Don't stop saying it."

And so Remus repeated it, '_I love you_', continually, until Sirius kissed him to shut him up.

* * *

><p><span>PS:<span> And that, as they say, is that. I hope you liked it and it finished okay. Thank you so, so much!


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